WHEN THE HEAVENLY GRANDSTAND JUMPS TO ITS FEET

My dentist once told to me, "Sunday morning my wife said, ‘Guess what honey? Your going to have to take your snow boom to the ball game with you today.’--- It was cold, but I'm not going to let a cold snowy day keep me away. I've been going to games now for six years and I'm not about to stop for a little snow.”

Wouldn't it be great to have that attitude about church?

There's something exciting about grandstands full of people, jumping, hollering, and doing the wave. You can feel electricity in the air.

College games sometimes have from 30,000 to 60,000 spectators. Professional games have from 70, to 80,000 spectators. The Super bowl could have as many as 100,000.

The Greatest grandstand is in heaven.

I. WHO'S IN THE HEAVENLY GRANDSTAND?

Hebrews 12:22-24, “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

·        Thousands upon thousands of angels are there.

·        The Church, spirits of righteous men are there.

·        God and Jesus are there.

·        Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” Who are these witnesses? This verse comes on the heals of chapter eleven, 

·        V 4 Able

·        V 5 Enoch

·        V 7 Noah

·        V 8 Abraham

·        V 20 Isaac

·        V 21 Jacob

·        V 22 Joseph

·        V 23 Moses

·        V 32 …we are running out of time so just let me list, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Samuel, the prophets.

4. And some of my closest friends are there: Grandma Childs, Aunt Grace, Uncle Willard, Aunt Mae, Homer & Velma Lenhart. I'll bet many of your friends are there too.

5. Revelation 20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.”

   Everyone that's dead is there. The good and the bad are there.

II. WHAT DO THE PEOPLE IN THE GRANDSTAND DO?

     They watch. They are alive, awake and watching.

1. I Peter 3:12 "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous."

2. Luke 16:23 tells us that the rich man was--alive, conscious, hearing, seeing, remembering, talking, feeling, and caring.

The WICKED are WATCHING the godly. The godly evidently are watching God, Jesus the angles.

3. And they are all watching us. Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

4. My mom and dad are watching me now. I hope they are pleased.

III. WHAT MAKES THE PEOPLE IN THE GRANDSTAND, STAND?

1. The death of the righteous makes the grandstand stand.

Acts 7:54-56 “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

2. The lost returning makes the grandstand stand.

(1. Luke 15:3-7 “Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

(2. Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Luke 15:11-24 “Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

(3. This is THE ONLY THING IN ALL THE WORLD THAT’S REALLY WORTH SHOUTING ABOUT. We’ve all heard the organ sound when a score was made, well I’ll bet old Michael lets out a blast of his trumpet when a sinner comes back home.

SUMMARY:   LESSONS:

1. The grandstand is not a figment of the imagination.

      (1. Bible says there is a grandstand.

      (2. Bible lists many who are there.

      (3. There can't be rejoicing if THERE'S NO ONE THERE, IF THEY ARE NOT AWARE, IF THEY DON'T CARE!

2. Realizing we are being watched should cause us to...

      (1 Watch our priorities.

      (2. Be excited-motivated to do our best.  Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

CONCLUSION:

Bill Carroway was an athlete who never made the first string at George-town University. Time came for the last game of the season, the last foot-ball game of Bill’s career, and his last chance to play.

            The night before the game he went to Coach Lou Little and asked for the opportunity to get in the game for “just one Play.” The coach promised only that he would do his best.

            At half-time, Georgetown was three points behind and Bill had never left the bench. During the second half the Gorgetown offense couldn’t seem to get going. Bill put his helmet under his arm and began walking up and down the sidelines, in from of the coach, hoping to be seen.

            The coach did see him and sent Bill into the game. On the first play Bill took the hand-off from the quarterback, and ran forty yards down field before being pulled down. The fans cheered and looked at their program--Bill’s name wasn’t even on it.

            Seconds remained. On the next play the quarterback faded back to pass. Bill Carroway broke away from his defender. The pass came spiraling through the air... and into his arms. He caught it and fell into the end zone for the winning touchdown. Gorgetown won the championship.

            Coach Little sought out Bill Carroway in the dressing room and said, “I’ve never seen a boy more determined than you were today. What gave you this overwhelming desire to win this game?”

            Bill looked at his coach and said, “My mother died when I was born and my father raised me. He wanted only two things of me--first, to get a college education and second, to play football.

            “I knew my dad would never see me play football because he was blind, and a few days ago he died. I knew that today would be the first and last time he would ever have the chance to see me play. Coach, I just had to succeed with my dad looking on.”

            During the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, a runner by the name of Derick Robinson was featured in the 800-meter race. About halfway through the event, Derick pulled a muscle and fell to the track. The audience moaned. The cameras paused briefly to show Derick on the track, but then picked up the other runners and followed them to the finish line. After filming the concluding moments of the race, the cameras returned to the spot where Derick had fallen. To everyone’s surprise, Derick was no longer laying on the track but had struggled to his feet and with agony on his face was limping toward the finish line. About this time, the cameras were again distracted by another man who had jumped down from the bleachers, over the fence and pushed his way past the guards that had tried to stop him. The man ran out on the track toward Derick. As he reached the athlete, he grabbed one arm, threw it over his shoulder and together they hobbled down the track. The audience stood in admiration of Derick’s effort and applause rang out as the two men stumbled across the finish line.

            Derick finished the race with one of the longest times in history - a little over 5 minutes. But this didn’t matter to the crowd. He was a hero to everyone that day simply because he had finished.

            And oh yes, the man who helped Derick complete the race? It was his father - Jim Robinson. After years of hard work and practice, he could not sit idly by and allow his son to miss crossing the finish line.

1. Has the heavenly grandstand jumped to its feet because of some-one that you brought to Jesus?

2. Has the Grandstand ever jumped to its feet because you came home?

3. Listen! What is that I hear? Is the grandstand sliding to the edge of its seats and holding it's breath in anticipation, they are watching you. Your heavenly Father is on His feet, He's getting ready to run toward you.

The grand stand is praying that you will give your life to God today?

BRING JOY TO THE GRANDSTAND! COME!

 See the lesson, "The Way To Heaven."

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