The
Chronicles of Narnia:
The Last Battle
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Authorship: The Chronicles of Narnia were written by C.S. Lewis, a Christian English professor at Oxford College in England. The first volume was published in 1950. All seven books are stories meant to remind us of the greatest story of all, the Bible.
Setting: This book takes
place directly after The Silver
Chair. It has again been a long time in Narnia, but only a
short time in our world.
Discussion Points
* The
story begins with two characters. One is an ape named Shift, and the
other is a donkey named Puzzle.
What can
you tell me about these two characters? What are some of the
characteristics of Shift?
Manipulative
– He lies to and tricks Puzzle
Hypocritical
– He acts like he is Puzzle's friend and that he's trying to be nice to him,
but he's really just
trying to
get Puzzle to do things for him
Selfish –
Shift is not concerned about anyone or anything other than himself and what he
wants
Have you
ever acted like Shift does? Have you ever lied to or tricked someone
to get what you want? Have you "put on a show" to get
others to do what you want? Have you ever been too concerned with
yourself when you should have been concerned about others?
What are
some of the characteristics of Puzzle?
Kind – He
is always willing to help Shift, he doesn't do anything that's mean
Loyal –
Puzzle stays friends with Shift, even when Shift makes him do things that he
doesn't want to do
Too
Dependent – Puzzle will sometimes object to what Shift says, but ultimately he
trusts Shift so much
that he
doesn't think for himself. He depends too much on Shift and not
enough on himself.
Do you
think Shift could have carried out his plan if Puzzle would have stood his
ground?
King
Tirian and his unicorn Jewel, have been hearing rumors that Aslan has finally
returned to Narnia. They are overjoyed. But then, after
they go to investigate who is cutting down the talking trees, they start
hearing that Aslan is the one who is giving the orders for all of these bad
things to happen. Tirian and Jewel get confused. In all
the stories about Aslan,
he is good. But now they wonder if Aslan is really
bad. They were tricked into thinking that Aslan caused something bad
to happen.
There are
all kinds of things that happen in our lives and in our world. Some
things that happen are good. Some things are bad. How do
we know what is from God and what is not? Here's what the Bible
says:
Psalm
145:17 - The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has
made.
God is
good.
James
1:16-17 - Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not
change like shifting shadows.
God is
good. God doesn't change.
Malachi 3:6
- "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not
destroyed.
God
doesn't change. God is good.
Psalm
102:25-27 - 25 In the beginning you laid the
foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They
will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like
clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27 But
you remain the same, and your years will never end.
God
doesn't change.
The Bible
tells us that God is good and that He doesn't change. God will
always be good. The problem is that sometimes the things that God
causes to happen in our lives seem bad. That's because we can't tell
how God is ultimately going to use it for good. We can't see all the
possibilities and consequences of the things that God causes to
happen. We just to have faith that God is good and that God is
working for our ultimate good.
When King
Tirian and Jewel hear about how someone is killing the talking trees, they get
very angry. Then, when they see some Calormens beating a Narnian
horse, Tirian and Jewel become so angry that they kill the Calormens.
What do
you think about what Tirian and Jewel did? Should they have gotten
angry?
Yes. King
Tirian and Jewel had every right to become angry, just like we have every right
to become angry when we see people treating other people wrongly. We
should be angry when people treat other people wrongly.
Should
they have killed the Calormens?
No. Tirian
and Jewel did the right thing by trying to stop the Calormens from murdering
and taking advantage of others. We have a duty to try to stop people
from treating other people unfairly. Killing, however, should always
be our last option.
* Shift orders that King Tirian be tied up to
a tree. While he is there, Tirian begins to remember all the ways in
which Aslan has helped Narnia in the past. He also recalls all the
times that Aslan brought the children from our world to help
Narnia. Tirian then cries out to Aslan, asking Him to come help or
to send the children to help. What is Tirian doing crying out to Aslan
and asking for help? If Tirian was a person in our world and Aslan
was God, what would we call what Tirian is doing? Tirian is praying.
What does
Tirian do when he's in trouble? He prays.
Aslan
must have heard him because He sends two of the children from our world into
Narnia to help him.
Do you
think God hears us when we pray?
Deuteronomy
4:7 - What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way
the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?
The Bible
tells us that God hears us when we pray to Him. We tend to take that
for granted, but to have our God hear us is really an amazing
thing. Think of all the other people in the world who pray to other
gods. Do you think their gods hear them praying?
Deuteronomy
32:39 - See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to
death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can
deliver out of my hand.
Other
gods that people pray to can't hear their prayers. Those gods aren't
real so they can't hear anything, especially not people praying to them.
Does God
answer all of our prayers? Yes, God answers all of our prayers.
What are
the different ways that God can answer prayer? God can answer prayer by either
granting our request, denying our request, or telling us to wait a little
longer before He answers our prayer one way or another.
Why
doesn't God grant all of our prayers? Why does God grant the prayers
that He does grant?
1 John
5:14-15 - This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask
anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever
we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
God will only grant our prayers if we pray for
what is in agreement with His will. In other words, God isn't going
to grant me just anything that I ask for. He's not a Genie in a
bottle. He's not Santa Claus. I can't just pray for God
to give me a million dollars and expect Him to give it to me if it isn't His
will, if it isn't His plan, to give me a million dollars. Even if I
ask for something good, that doesn't guarantee that God will grant my
prayer. For instance, if someone I know gets sick and I pray to God
for them to get better, that's a perfectly fine prayer, but if it's not God's
will for that person to get will, if He has decided that it is time for that
person to die, then He will not grant my prayer.
What should we do when we pray in order to have
more of our prayers granted? If God only grants prayers that are
according to His will, when we pray we should ask God what His will
is. Instead of just asking God for things, spend time listening for
what He might want to tell you. God speak to us in our prayer
time. If we listen for what God wants to say to us, He will tell us
what His will is and what we should pray for. The Holy Spirit living
inside of us will guide our hearts and our minds to what we should pray for.
Romans
8:26-27 - In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do
not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts
knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in
accordance with God's will.
Ephesians
6:18 - And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of
prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying
for all the saints.
*Why do
you think all of the Friends of Narnia were gathered together? They
were talking about their times in Narnia. Why couldn't they talk to
other people about their times in Narnia? No one else would take
them seriously or really understand what they were talking
about. Some people may have made fun of them or thought they were
crazy.
Christians
have the same problem that the Friends of Narnia did in the
story. Like them, we have experienced something that no one else
has. We believe in God, and we believe that we can have a real
relationship with Him. A lot of people don't believe
that. They think we're silly or mistaken or stupid for believing in
God. In some parts of the world, people kill Christians for believing
what we believe. That's why it is important for us to meet together,
like the Friends of Narnia were doing, to talk about our experiences?
After
Jesus had been crucified by the Jewish and Roman authorities, the followers of
Jesus were afraid that the Jews and the Romans would want to punish them next
for believing in Jesus. Even after Jesus was resurrected and
ascended into Heaven, many Jews and Romans did not believe in Him, so those
first Christians still had good reason to be afraid of the
authorities. If they had crucified Jesus, they would have no reason
not to punish His followers. We see in Acts that many Christians
were persecuted for their beliefs. One thing that helped keep them
stay faithful, though, whether they were being persecuted at the time or not,
was being with other Christians. Here's what Acts tells us they did
together:
Acts 2:
42-47 - They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled
with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the
apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in
common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he
had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the
Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
They
listened to teaching together (they learned together). They broke
bread together (communion). They prayed together. They
sold their possessions and gave to those in need. (Tithing, giving offering,
sacrificing your finances to help other people). They met
together. They ate together (like we eat together for
socializing). We do all the things that they did, for the same
reasons. We know that we need to be together to encourage each other
in the Christian faith and in living life as a Christian person.
Here's
what a passage in the Old Testament says about the need for having good
companions in life:
Ecclesiastes
4:9-12 - Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their
work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the
man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down
together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm
alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A
cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
This
verse shows us that we need to help each other and that we can be stronger than
alone.
In order
for us to be able to help each other, God gives us gifts and
talents. Our talents and gifts individually are different from
everyone else's. This is so that we can all work together, just like
the parts of our body all work together.
1
Corinthians 12:7-13 - Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit
the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same
Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing
by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy,
to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different
kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of
tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives
them to each one, just as he determines. 12The body is a unit, though it
is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one
body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into
one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one
Spirit to drink.
Take a
minute right now and write down two ways that your church family or other
Christians you know help you in your Christian faith.
Now take
a minute and write down two ways that you can help your church family or other
Christians that you know in their Christian faith
* Now, we
hear more about Tash. Who or what do you think Tash
is? Before, we didn't know if Tash was a story that the Calormens
made up, or if he really was their god. Now we know that Tash is a demon. So
the Calormens think he is a god. But we think he is a demon.
Do you
think that we have other gods or demons in our world?
Deuteronomy
32:16-17 - They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him
with their detestable idols. 17 They sacrificed to demons, which are
not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your
fathers did not fear.
1 Corinthians
10:19-20 - Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything,
or that an idol is anything? 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are
offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with
demons.
Other gods that people worship are
demons. Demons have tricked people into thinking they're gods.
So, what do demons in our world
do? They tempt people. Does Satan and the demons have
power to tempt people on their own authority? Can they just do
whatever they want?
Job 1:6-12
- One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also
came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come
from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and
going back and forth in it." 8 Then the LORD said to Satan,
"Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he
is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns
evil." 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan
replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so
that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But
stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse
you to your face." 12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well,
then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a
finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Job 2:1-7
- On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and
Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the
LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan
answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and
forth in it." 3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you
considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless
and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his
integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." 4 "Skin
for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own
life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and
he will surely curse you to your face." 6 The LORD said to
Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his
life." 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and
afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his
head.
Sometimes, we get this idea that Satan and the
demons can just do whatever they want and God doesn't do anything to stop them,
but that simply isn't true. This passage tells us that Satan and his
demons must answer to God. Satan is under God's
control. Satan cannot do anything that God has not first approved
of.
Matthew 4:1
- Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
God wanted Jesus to be tempted. The
Spirit led Him into the desert for that purpose.
Deuteronomy
8:2 - Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert
these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in
your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
This verse tells us that God led the Israelites through
the desert to test them. Their test was whether or not they allowed
themselves to be tempted to sin. So we see that God wanted them to
be tempted as well. Otherwise, He couldn't have tested them.
James 1:13
- When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God
cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
God doesn't tempt anyone. But the
verses we just read said that God did want people to be tempted. So
how does God make it so that people are tempted without Him doing the tempting? God
uses Satan and the demons to tempt/test people. God created Satan
and the demons for this very purpose.
Why would God want people to be
tempted? Why would God use Satan and the demons to do this to
us? We don't know. All we can know is that God is
all-good and all-wise and that He must have a reason for doing what He does.
1 Kings
22:19-23 - Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD : I
saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around
him on his right and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, 'Who will
entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?'
"One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came
forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice
him.' 22 " 'By what means?' the LORD asked. " 'I will go
out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. "
'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do
it.' 23 "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of
all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you."
1 Samuel
16:14-15 - Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an
evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15 Saul's attendants said to
him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.
*Throughout
our story, and really throughout the Chronicles of Narnia, we have heard about
people going into battle. Our characters are brave, but they're also
afraid of dying. It's normal to be afraid of death. Most
people are afraid of dying. But the Bible, I think, tells us that
Christians do not have to be afraid to die.
Romans
14:7-9 - For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to
himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to
the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this
very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of
both the dead and the living.
Whether
we live or die, we belong to the Lord. We are God's. We
are God's property. Why do we not need to fear
death? Because it's not our business if we die. Why
should you care if you die? Your life is not yours,
anyway. It's God's. God owns you. It's not
your business if you die. It's God's business. You're His
property. Don't worry about it.
Luke 12:4-7
- "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and
after that can do no more. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear
him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes,
I tell you, fear him. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not
one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
What is Jesus saying in these
verses? He's saying, "Don't fear death. Fear
God. You dying is not what really matters. God is what
matters. You die, you're killed? Don't worry about
that. Worry about God. He's the one who could really hurt
you. Everything else hurts your body, but God can hurt your
soul. But the great thing about God is that He's not going to do
that. He cares about you. Here's this God that could just
throw you into Hell if He wanted, but instead, He cares so much about you that
He even knows how many hairs are on your head and tells us that we are worth
more than many sparrows."
Now, if
you are God's, and God cares about you, what does God want to do with you?
John
6:39-40 - And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose
none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For
my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him
shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
This is what God wants. He wants that
none of His people will be lost. He wants that everyone who believes
in Jesus to have eternal life and to be brought back to life at the last
day. That's why we don't need to fear death. We are
God's. God cares about us. God will give us resurrect us
at the last day and give us eternal life.
Paul, after suffering intense persecution for
being a Christian, in which he was always in danger of being killed for his
faith, says that he did not let himself fear death too much.
2
Corinthians 4:16-18 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we
are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our
light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what
is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Paul did not lose heart. He had the
hope that whatever troubles he was going through on earth – persecution, being
on trial, possibly murdered or executed – those things would seem like nothing
compared to the joy he would have in Heaven. He saw that our
troubles are temporary. Incredible happiness in Heaven is forever.
Philippians
1:20-26 - I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but
will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my
body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to
die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean
fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn
between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by
far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the
body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue
with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through
my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
For the
Christian, it is a good thing for us to die. We know that if we die,
we will be with Jesus and with God and that is much better for us than staying
here. Life for us here can be pretty good, but life in Heaven will
be incredible joy. Paul says that the only reason he doesn't want to
die now is because he wants to keep helping people. That's the
reason that we should not want to die sooner than God wants us
to. We know that it would be good for us if we died, but the people
that we leave behind will be sad to see us go. Our family and
friends will miss us.
Yet, when
the time comes for us to die, because we know that we are God's, because we
know that God cares about us, because we know that will bring us back to life
and give us eternal life, because we know that it is to our benefit to die, we
don't need to fear death. Instead, when it is our time to go, we can
calmly say what Jesus said when He died.
Luke 23:46
- Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I
commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Jesus was not afraid to die, and we don't have to
be either if we trust in God.
* Now, we hear about the end of
Narnia. During that time, Aslan called all of the animals and all of
the creatures of Narnia to come and stand before Him. As some of the
animals looked at Him, they became very happy and went through the stable door,
which we now know is the door to Aslan's country, or what we call
Heaven.
But when some of the animals and creatures looked
at Aslan, they became afraid and even hateful and angry, and they went off to the
other side. They weren't allowed to come into Aslan's
country. What do you think was happening to those other animals and
creatures that weren't allowed to go to Aslan's country? Where were
they going? Hell.
So, some went to Heaven, and some went to
Hell. And that's exactly what the Bible tells us will happen when
our world ends. God will judge all of us, and we will either go to
Heaven or we will go to Hell. Today, what I want to talk to you
about is what we have to do to be one of the people that gets to go to Heaven.
John
6:39-40 - And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose
none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For
my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him
shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Number
one is that we have to believe in Jesus. We all know that,
right? But let's not forget it. That is the number one
thing. That is the first step.
Now, let's look at the passage in the Bible where
C.S. Lewis got the idea for this part of his book.
Matthew
25:31-46 - "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations
will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his
right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was
hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to
drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing
clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to
visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did
for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you
did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick
and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we
see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in
prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal
punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Why did
some people get to go to Heaven? Because they did things for other
people.
Why
did some people have to go to Hell? Because they did not do things
for other people.
Does this
mean that Jesus is telling us that what we do – our good deeds – are what save
us? No.
Believing
in Jesus is what saves us. But if we really believe in Jesus, then
we will do good deeds. What you believe determines what you will
do. So what you do is evidence of what you believe. If
you say that you're a Christian, but you don't behave like the Bible says a Christian
should behave – if you don't do good deeds, then I would start to doubt whether
you really are a Christian.
So, how
do we get to Heaven? We show that we believe in Jesus by doing good
things, by living the right way.
Romans
2:5-11 - But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his
righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person
according to what he has done." 7To those who by persistence in doing
good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But
for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there
will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every
human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but
glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for
the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
Revelation
2:8-11 - "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are
the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life
again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know
the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of
Satan. 10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the
devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer
persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will
give you the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the
second death.
Jesus is
telling us that bad times, hard times, will come to us, but what do we have to
do? We have to be faithful, even to the point of
death. And what will happen if we are faithful? Jesus
will give us the crown of life. What is the crown of
life? Eternal life.
This is
what those who are faithful will hear when they enter Heaven:
Matthew
25:21 - Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a
few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master's happiness!'
Well
done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful. Come and share your master's happiness. That's
what I want to hear when I die.
But Jesus
tells us that some people won't hear that. They will hear something
else.
Matthew
7:21-23 - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. 22Many 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?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers!'
Jesus
says that not everyone who says that they're a Christian, not everyone who
calls Jesus Lord, will get into Heaven. Who will get into
Heaven? Those who do God's will. Those who obey
God. If we don't obey God, what does Jesus say He will say to
us? "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"
2
Corinthians 5:10 - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in
the body, whether good or bad.
* The Chronicles of
Narnia ends with everyone going to Aslan's country or Heaven. That
is a very appropriate ending for C.S. Lewis' story because it is the ending of
our story, as well. Our ultimate goal, the end toward which we are
moving, is Heaven. Over the last couple of weeks, we've talked about
how Christians don't have to be afraid to die because we know that we'll go to
Heaven. We've talked about how we have to believe in Jesus and live
a Christian life if we want to get into Heaven. Today we're going to
talk about what will happen when we go to Heaven and what Heaven will be like.
Matthew
24:30-31 - At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the
sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will
send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from
the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Who is
the Son of Man? Jesus.
So, Jesus
is telling us that He will come back on the clouds of the sky.
Why will
He come back on the clouds of the sky? Because after He was
resurrected, He was taken up into the sky and went to Heaven. He's
going to come back the way He went.
And what
will He send His angels to do? To gather His elect.
Who are
the elect? Christians. So, Jesus will send His angels to
gather all of the Christians to Himself.
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 - Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant
about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no
hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that
God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According
to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left
till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen
asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive
and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore
encourage each other with these words.
Paul
talks about those who have fallen asleep. A lot of times when the
New Testament talks about someone dying, it says that they fell
asleep. The reason for saying that they fell asleep instead of that
they died, is because Christians know that death is not final. Death
is not forever. One day, Jesus will bring everyone who has died back
to life, and it will be like they're waking up again from a long
sleep. Paul says that when Jesus comes back, He will raise to life
all the Christians that have died and they will meet Jesus in the
air. Remember that Jesus is coming back on the
clouds. And then the Christians who have not died yet, who have not
fallen asleep yet, will be lifted up to meet Jesus in the sky.
1 Corinthians
15:35-58 - But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With
what kind of body will they come?" 36How foolish! What you sow does
not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body
that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something
else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of
seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind
of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There
are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the
heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is
another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the
stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42So will it be
with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body,
it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is
also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became
a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual
did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The
first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As
was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from
heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the
likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from
heaven. 50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but
we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has
been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the
saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in
victory." 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is
your sting?" 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the
law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move
you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know
that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Our body
in Heaven will not be like our body on earth. Our body on earth will
be changed. Why is this? Because our body on earth can
get sick and die. In Heaven, we will need a new body that cannot
die. When Jesus rose from the dead, He took away death's power over
us. We die, but death cannot keep its hold on us
forever. Death eventually has to let us go when Jesus raises us from
the dead. After that, He will give us a new body and we will not die
again.
Revelation
21:1-4 - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven
and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I
saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a
loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men,
and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with
them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There
will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away."
These
verses tell us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth a new Jerusalem
because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, just like the
first Narnia passed away, but there was another, better Narnia that the
characters in the story were able to go to. And in this new place,
God will live with people. This means that we will not have to pray
to God. We will be able to just go up and talk to
Him. We'll be able to see Him. We'll be able to touch
Him. And in this new place that we call Heaven, there will be no
more death and no more being sad and no more crying and no more
pain. God Himself, will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and once
God wipes away our tears, they won't come back.
What does
this mean? This means that in Heaven, everyone will be incredibly
happy all the time.
Revelation
21:22-27 - I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun or
the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is
its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth
will bring their splendor into it. 25On no day will its gates ever be
shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the
nations will be brought into it. 27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor
will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names
are written in the Lamb's book of life.
John
tells us here that nothing impure or shameful or deceitful will enter
Heaven. There will be no more sin in Heaven. Everyone
will always do what is right.
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