Conia [00:00:03 – 00:00:43]
Well, I am thrilled to be able to share some personal God experience with you guys this week. And what I mean by that is my two chairs time, which we’ve talked about two chairs before. And if you don’t know what two chairs ears is, shoot me an email and I’ll send you some sermon links. Maybe we’ll put some sermon links in the comments when we post this on our YouTube channel. But two cheers is super important to me as far as quiet time with God. That’s where I get to talk for just a little bit. He gets to talk for quite a bit. And we get downloads or I get downloads.
Conia [00:00:43 – 00:01:30]
And when I’ve shared this with other people, they’ve heard from God for themselves, sometimes for the first time that they recognize. I think we all hear from God. We, we just don’t recognize that that’s him talking to us sometimes. So what I’m talking about here is a result of some of that time that I had with him. And when I have time with God that is not urgent, that’s not oh Lord, fix this thing is when I actually gain some of the most insight. And he will often wake me up at about 4 in the morning. And if you’ve heard me before, you might have heard me say God likes to wake me up at 4 in the morning. He knows he’s got my attention.
Conia [00:01:30 – 00:02:32]
And there is no other earthly reason why I would be awake at 4 in the morning, except that God wanted to talk to me. So that’s usually my clear indicator that it is God and not just me, you know, with bad pizza or insomnia of some kind. And when I talked about, talk about this one, this was one of the moments that was downloaded to me that I was not expecting, was not necessarily looking for. And sometimes those are the richest in my opinion and in my experience. So what I want to talk to you today involves us being sick citizens of heaven, we. And we’re going to explore this fairly deeply. We are not of this earth. And once we have been adopted into sonship, and adoption is its own set of fun things that I have for you guys in another sermon.
Conia [00:02:32 – 00:03:42]
But once we are adopted into the kingdom, we are sitting citizens of heaven. And our citizenship, our homeland, is heaven. As humans, our earthly citizenship for us here in the United States is America. If we go to another country, we would be considered foreigners in that land. And we are really foreigners in the earth because we are citizens of heaven. The second part of this, and we might get to all this today and we may have to do it in a couple shifts, but we’ll see how God takes us. The second part is that we are ambassadors for the kingdom of heaven. And the third part of this is we have certain responsibilities and certain behavior, certain ways of conducting ourselves as both a citizen of heaven and an ambassador to for the kingdom of heaven here in the earth, Certain things that we are supposed to do and ways that we are supposed to act.
Conia [00:03:43 – 00:04:20]
So we’re going to go through all three of those. We’re going to have a little bit of fun here and hopefully enlighten you as to what is yours as a citizen of heaven. So let’s dig in, and I’ll start with what God gave me, and I’ll give you the verse references that go with this to begin with. So it starts in Psalm, Psalms 104. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. Okay. And you need to picture this. When you start with a scripture, it’s super easy for us to kind of gloss over things.
Conia [00:04:20 – 00:04:35]
Oh, yeah. Enter into his gates, Thanksgiving. Enter into his courts with praise. And you just keep going. Don’t keep going here. Ponder over it for a little bit to discover what it really does mean. So enter into his gates. And if you think about.
Conia [00:04:35 – 00:05:13]
If you think about a regal castle, right? So there’s an outer gate, sometimes there’s a moat that you have to get over before you can get into the gate. And as you come into the gate, you enter it with thanksgiving. And then it says, enter into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him. That’s the entering into the gates with thanksgiving and bless his name. That’s praising him. So that’s Psalm 104. Then in Hebrews, chapter four, it talks about God being our compassionate high priest.
Conia [00:05:13 – 00:06:14]
So he’s sitting on this throne. And it’s in chapter four, verse 14, it says, seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, and yet without sin. Think about that. He was tempted just like you and I, and he was without sin. Let us therefore, verse 16. Come boldly to the throne of grace and find that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. Hold on to that thought.
Conia [00:06:15 – 00:07:10]
We go to Philippians 3, verse 20, and it says, but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. So here’s what follows. Here’s what God gave Me in our time together, just a download. We are citizens of Heaven. Just as citizens of any foreign nation can walk into their embassy here and be on sovereign homeland. So we too can enter into the heavenly realm at any time. Just because we’re on Earth does not mean that we can’t enter back into heaven at any time. Okay, so think about if you were to go and I’ve been to embassies here in the United States.
Conia [00:07:10 – 00:08:00]
And so you’re in Virginia, you’re in Washington D.C. and you walk into the a lovely home that has a very distinctly different culture from the sidewalk that you walked out from into this lovely home. Well, you’re now on foreign land. Even though you’re surrounded by the United States, once you walk into that land, that home of those dignitaries, those ambassadors from foreign countries, you are now on their land. And we, even as citizens of Earth, can walk into the heavenly realm at any time. So just keep that in mind. So here’s the next part of what he gave me that day. Paint a vivid image in your mind.
Conia [00:08:00 – 00:08:47]
You approach the gate of Heaven’s territory and you don’t show id. You don’t answer questions. No flags on your conveyance. Your thanksgiving makes you instantly recognizable as one of our own. You pass through without pause, ushered in and accompanied by a legion of heavenly hosts. As you effortlessly progress from gate to court. Your joy is magnified by your heavenly escort. Your low gear thanksgiving shifts into high gear praise.
Conia [00:08:48 – 00:10:03]
Your presence is announced by your very own voice, rippling through the chorus of angel angels about you, growing in depth and intensity with each syllable. And then Father God is gratified by your arrival at the throne, where you boldly, confidently and joyfully greet him, receive his loving embrace as evidence he has been eagerly anticipating your very presence. You are seated not at the end of some long impersonal table, not separated like Judge and Witness. You remain in as close proximity as possible at his right hand. Your chorus of angels reverently stills. A hush falls over them. They revel in awe as God and the one he loves begin to fellowship once again. All of heaven is infused with greater joy than mere moments before.
Conia [00:10:04 – 00:11:02]
Because the child has come home. You are the child. And when you come home, it’s as if you were the only one. And he receives you with the joy of a father into the realm where you belong. That is not something my imagination could have come up with. I’ve got a pretty vivid imagination and I didn’t come up with that one on my own. That was really a heavenly download. And the idea of being escorted in by a legion of angels and my voice, my thanksgiving, being magnified by those angelic beings echoing through the courts in beauty is pretty breathtaking, in my opinion.
Conia [00:11:03 – 00:11:49]
So ponder on that and ruminate on it. So I got to thinking more about being citizens of heaven and. And that verse, Philippians 3:20. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote this. He’s reminding us that our allegiance is not to this earth we’re visiting here, it’s to heaven. That’s who our primary allegiance is to. When you go into a foreign country, if you’re the ambassador, you are primarily still allegiant to your home country.
Conia [00:11:50 – 00:12:48]
If we look at Mike Huckabee in Israel, he’s physically in Israel, but he’s at the American Embassy in Israel. And his primary goal is to represent America. Our primary goal as citizens of heaven is to represent heaven. That’s what we’re to do. Our identity, our hope, our expectation, all of that originates in heaven. Ephesians 2:19 says, now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Here’s another place where we’re coming up to the same point. Once we were outside of God’s family, and now we’ve been adopted into sonship.
Conia [00:12:48 – 00:13:23]
We are just as if we had been there the whole time. We are citizens of heaven, just like everybody else. You’re included. You’re a part of heaven. Don’t let go of that. Hebrews 11, 13, 16 talks about, they confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They desire a better, that is heavenly country. And this is talking about the heroes of faith.
Conia [00:13:24 – 00:14:07]
Hebrews chapter 11 is all about the different heroes of our faith. And they were pilgrims here in the earth. They were citizens of heaven. And just like them, we’re passing through here, we’re not staying. And they. All the citizens it talks about in here, all these heroes of our faith, didn’t really live here on earth long enough to see everything that they worked for come to fruition. And that’s okay, because they’re citizens of heaven and not citizens of the earth. They came here to sow a seed to plant, to put down a foundation for those that were to come.
Conia [00:14:08 – 00:14:53]
And we are those that were to come. And we need to walk in that foundation, just like we talked about the last couple times I was with you in that. These people, these great heroes of our faith, have laid that foundation so that we can walk in it, we are now laying a further foundation so that others can walk in it. And we understand that it’s not just about us here in the earth, it’s about representing heaven to earth. So it’s kind of exciting. You are kind of just like these heroes of the faith. In John 17:14, it says, they are not of the world, just as I, I am not of the world. And he’s praying.
Conia [00:14:53 – 00:16:04]
Jesus is praying to God here, praying to his Father, and distinguishing those people who follow him from the rest of the world. And he’s highlighting them as citizens, as fellow citizens, as his brothers and sisters. And just because we live here in this physical world, our origin and our promise and our purpose lies in heaven, we go to Colossians 3, 1, 2. If, then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, set your mind on things above, not those things of earth. And this is not merely about being greedy here in the earth and having a more heavenly mind. It is because the things of earth don’t benefit you as a citizen of heaven that you really want to go after the things that are of heaven and not the things that are of earth. Because the things that are of earth are fleeting. They’re not going to last you very long.
Conia [00:16:05 – 00:17:21]
And it’s just going to be for while you’re here, for that moment. And just like Jesus suffered the cross for them, the beauty and the salvation and the prize which is us that lay beyond the cross, we need to look heavenly for our motivation and for our reason for taking action in our everyday life, that it’s not just about what can we gain in the here and now, it’s what can we gain heavenly for heaven that is important. Second Corinthians 5, verse 1 says, for we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God eternal in the heavens. And that’s talking about our body. It’s talking about our earthly body as these tents. So even. Even if this is destroyed, even if, you know, you think about people who are cremated, you think about people who die in ways that they don’t actually get buried, it doesn’t matter. This is just an earthly vessel that we’re in, and we have heavenly bodies to lay hold of in the future in those heavenly realms.
Conia [00:17:21 – 00:18:24]
And there’s several places where the Bible talks about our heavenly bodies. I’m not going to go into all of that now, because you could get into a whole sermon series just on what happens when we get our heavenly bodies. But this is just another indicator that we are not citizens of earth. If it wasn’t, it would be super important to maintain these embalm, these bodies, you know, freeze them, whatever you need to do for the future. We’re citizens of heaven, and we have heavenly bodies that are formed in the spirit realm instead of in the physical realm. Luke 10:20 Rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Here again you are a citizen of heaven. This is yet another scripture that talks about your presence in heaven, your name written in the Lamb’s book of life in heaven.
Conia [00:18:26 – 00:18:54]
That’s where you belong. That’s where you’re a citizen. And so he’s talking about. This is where Jesus is talking about not to revel in the earthly success, because you already have heavenly success. And all these things shall be added unto you. We talk about that a little bit later. That when we seek these things of heaven, God says, seek heaven, earth is extra. That’s just bonus.
Conia [00:18:54 – 00:19:55]
And you get the bonus when you seek what’s happening in heaven. So Jesus is reminding his disciples not to rejoice in success or power. But rejoice in your heavenly identity doesn’t mean you can’t have earthly success or power. It just means that your heavenly identity comes first, generally will yield that earthly success and that power. Matthew 6:19, 20 Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also God’s after your heart. That’s where your heart belongs. And so not only not laying up your treasures here in the earth, because even if you did that, even if you were to lay up all the treasure here in the earth, your heart still wouldn’t be satisfied.
Conia [00:19:55 – 00:20:56]
Even if your heart is here, because that’s where your heart’s going to be. If you’re focused on laying up treasures in heaven, I mean on earth, your heart’s going to be here on earth. But Matthew here is saying, lay up your treasures and heaven, because that’s where your heart will be. And not only will your heart be there, that’s where it belongs. Just because you can function in earth doesn’t mean that that’s where you belong. And we talk about this in a very real human sense when we talk about personality profiles and we do something called a team profile, where we talk to people about how they like to function in a team, whether they like to kind of be on the beginning of something or whether they like to make things run or if they like to be somewhere in between. And so when we talk about that, we talk about where your heart is happy and where you have joy. You can function here in the earth really well.
Conia [00:20:58 – 00:22:21]
But that’s not where your heart is going to get its most joy. Your heart’s gonna get its most joy from the things of heaven. And that really ties into a lot of the reasons why we don’t want to sin. Not just that it’s an abomination, not just that God frowns on it, but the reason it’s an abomination. And the reason that God frowns on it is because he knows as your father, as your very good parent, that those actions will not edify your heart. So it feels like for some people, it feels like we’re coming against them when we’re identifying sin and suggesting that maybe they shouldn’t do this thing or that thing. But it really, if we’re doing it in love, the idea should be that’s not going to serve you nearly as well as you would be served if you were following after God and following after the things of heaven and laying up your treasures in heavenly things instead of earthly things. And that really is kind of the root of where a lot of sin comes from is chasing after earth earthly things.
Conia [00:22:23 – 00:23:05]
And when we chase after earthly things, it doesn’t satisfy us, it doesn’t make us happy. When we chase after heavenly things, it does satisfy, it does make us happy. It’s kind of like the difference between, you know, empty calories and full calories, right? Empty calories taste good for a minute, but they really don’t sustain the body. Good calories sustain the body. Well, good heavenly thoughts sustain your heart. And God is the ultimate parent that wants to see you joyful. God gets joy when you’re joyful. He doesn’t necessarily get as much joy when you’re happy.
Conia [00:23:07 – 00:23:55]
Happy for the moment. He might grin, but he’s gonna look at it and go, what’s the source of that? And if the source of that is not for your long term good, he’s not going to be joyful in that. When he sees that you are doing things for your long term good, when you’re seeking after those things of heaven, then your joy becomes God’s joy and you make him happy. It’s pretty cool. First Peter 2:11 says, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims. Here we are, we’re talking about pilgrims again here in the earth. Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. I forgot that I had that next verse come in there.
Conia00:23:55 – 00:24:35
I guess I must have remembered it, my studying, because I just kind of preached on that whole thing. So if you look at this, the fleshly lusts which war against the soul, things of earth, things of the flesh, things that we lust after in the flesh. And lusting after does not have to be the sexual component. It can be a. It can be food, it can be success. It can be all kinds of earthly things that we go after that don’t edify our soul. These things actually war against our soul is what Peter’s saying here. Peter calls believers, sojourners, back to our citizens of heaven conversation.
Conia [00:24:35 – 00:26:20]
As temporary residents here on earth, knowing our true citizenship. I love this shapes our conduct and keeps us spiritually vigilant. Why am I going on and on about this citizenship of heaven thing? Because when you know who you are, it will shape you and it will keep you, in this case, spiritually vigilant. If you think about certain families, if you think about even certain companies necessarily, when they define who we are, who we are as a family, who we are as a company, when it’s clearly defined and the expectations are clearly set out and you understand what your part in that family or. Or that company is, that changes how you behave, and it changes your satisfaction in your own life and in your own behavior, because you know how you fit in the larger picture. When we understand that we are citizens of heaven and our spirit does not reside here in the earth, our spirit resides in heavenly realms that shapes how you behave. Knowing who you are, knowing what edifies you, knowing what brings joy to God, makes what you do so important that you’re much more aware of what you’re doing and how it serves the bigger picture of your citizenship in heaven. It’s pretty cool.
Conia [00:26:20 – 00:27:31]
We really need to know who we are when we do marriage enrichment coaching. Really one of the first things we do is we kind of dig a little deep and see who are you? Who are you? What are your personality traits? What are your likes, what are your dislikes, what makes you tick? And then we do that for each part of the couple, and then we introduce them to one another. This is who you’re married to, this is who you’re married to. And often they haven’t had conversations years, and they’ve forgotten not only who they’re married to, but in many cases, who they are. Because they’ve given out of their cup for so long, they’ve forgotten their identity. But we remind them who they are in Christ, and we remind them what the gifts that they have and that they’ve been given to function here in the earth, in their ambassadorship, and how that fits into into heaven’s bigger initiative. And then there’s peace, because their spirits and their souls are edified. All right, so your conduct really does change when you know who you are.
Conia [00:27:31 – 00:27:48]
And it’s not that you. You’re. It’s not from a guilt perspective. It’s from a. Oh, this is better. I want that because it’s better perspective. It’s like going from. You know, back when I was a teenager, we had kids, little canvas sneakers.
Conia [00:27:48 – 00:28:16]
I think the. The closest things we have right now might be converse. Like, zero support. Cute. They were cute. I looked cute. But they’re not like the ideal running shoe. And so even though I had the Cads and it was a shoe and it had a sole and it covered your foot, if I’m going to go walking or if I’m going to go running, I’m not going to choose a Ked, because I know better now.
Conia [00:28:16 – 00:29:00]
I know that my Adidas are going to support my foot better, that I’m going to end up in a better place later on because I chose the right shoe. Well, much in the same way, because I choose the same actions, because my conduct is the right conduct and not the wrong conduct. Because I know better and I know who I am. I make better choices and I end up happier. It’s not. No one’s trying to deprive me of my kids. They’re just showing me that my Adidas are better suited for what I’m trying to do and better suited for me long term. Nobody’s trying to keep you from earthly happiness.
Conia [00:29:01 – 00:29:54]
They’re just trying to get you into spiritual, heavenly happiness by functioning as a citizen of heaven and giving you the identity of who you are. The last verse we’re going to look at today is Revelation 21:27. And we are going to wrap this up because we’re going to go too long. And there’s just no way I could get to ambassadorship or how you’re supposed to behave because I’ve talked too long. So. Revelation 21:27. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Presenting ourselves clean, presenting ourselves undefiled, so that heaven is not defiled, is a wonderful thing being written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Conia [00:29:55 – 00:30:39]
Our sins are wiped clean. We’ve been forgiven as citizens of heaven, we are forgiven, and we can function unencumbered by previous sin. Once you’re written in that Lamb’s book of life, your salvation is complete. And as long as you stay in God’s glory graces, and you repent of sin. We sin. Sins happen even after salvation. We’re not completely necessarily sanctified, but our name’s written in the Lamb’s book of life. And nothing that defiles heaven is going to be written in that Lamb’s book of life.
Conia [00:30:39 – 00:31:13]
We’re clean. We’re presented clean. And we’ve talked about this before. We are presented clean, clean because that’s what God wants to see. He forgives us because he wants to see us as pure and undefiled, and he welcomes us as such into heaven. So if you find yourself in sin, repent and come right back to God. Entry into the heavenly city is for citizens of heaven. Once you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior, you are a citizen of heaven.
Conia [00:31:13 – 00:32:12]
And it’s like taking an oath and then saying, I am now a citizen. Those are redeemed by Christ. Heaven’s a pure place and we are granted purity and we’re granted entry to heaven as citizens. Father, thank you that we are citizens of heaven, that you are the most high God and we can enter boldly into your throne room. Lord, thank you that we come into your gates via our thanksgiving, that we come into your courts carried in by our praise for you. We glorify you. God, we thank you for all that you’ve done for us. In Jesus name, Amen.
Conia [00:32:14 – 00:32:16]
Pastor David’s coming to close us out.
