Christ Wesleyan Church
Join us for our primary worship service each week on Sunday.
Matthew 25:41 NLT
A. As Christians, we believe in the supernatural...
1 Corinthians 15:44 NLT
1. Everything about the Christian life involves the supernatural. Death is a natural process of life, but eternal life is supernatural.
John 3:15 NLT
2. Our whole belief system is based on the supernatural. Creation, the Garden of Eden, miracles, virgin birth, resurrection, signs and wonders, heaven, hell, angels, and demons are all supernatural.
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
3. We are in a battle between good and evil that is not flesh and blood, but in forces that are unseen and supernatural.
Ephesians 6:12 NLT
4. Since the supernatural is only known by faith, we must live by faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT
B. Jesus was very clear in His words about …
Matthew 25:31, 41, 46 NLT
1. Jesus told His disciples about a heaven that was prepared for them.
John 14:1-2 NLT
2. Jesus talked about a hell.
Luke 12:5 NLT
3. Jesus talked about demons.
Matthew 12:28 NLT
4. Jesus talked about angels.
Matthew 24:31 NLT
C. Our understanding of the supernatural...
“Jesus talks about hell more than he talks about heaven, and describes it more vividly. There’s no denying that Jesus knew, believed, and warned against the absolute reality of hell.”
1. Heaven: a new earth, a new heaven, a new Jerusalem, and new bodies! (Heaven by Randy Alcorn)
Revelation 22:3, 5 NLT
“The man who is about to sail for Australia or New Zealand as a settler, is naturally anxious to know something about his future home, its climate, its employments, its inhabitants, its ways, its customs. All these are subjects of deep interest to him. You are leaving the land of your nativity, you are going to spend the rest of your life in a new hemisphere. It would be strange indeed if you did not desire information about your new abode. Now surely, if we hope to dwell for ever in that ‘better country, even a heavenly one,’ we ought to seek all the knowledge we can get about it. Before we go to our eternal home we should try to become acquainted with it.” J. C. Ryle
2. Hell: the place of conscious, eternal torment where people experience God’s punishment for sin. Hell was created for the devil and his angels.
Matthew 7:13 NLT
C.S. Lewis said of hell, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason” (The Problem of Pain).
Lewis also said in The Great Divorce, “All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.”
3. Demons: fallen angels follow the bidding of Satan in temptation, oppression, influence, and possession to lead man to destruction.
Isaiah 14:12 NLT
“The Bible tells us that demons are fallen angels who joined Satan in his rebellion against God and who were defeated and cast out of heaven along with Satan (Revelation 12:7-9). Demons continue to serve the devil in his attempt to lead the world away from God and into sin. Jesus will ultimately banish Satan and his demons into the eternal fire.” - Crosswalk
4. Angels: God’s army as messengers, to minister to Jesus and his people, to validate God’s presence, and to rejoice when sinners repent.
“John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night, hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, ‘Who were all those men with you there?’ Paton knew no men were present--but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.”
D. So, in understanding the supernatural, what action should it cause you to take?
1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT
1. Pray more for those who are lost.
2. Realize that you are surrounded by an unseen world.
3. Be more aware of the enemy and his deceptions.
4. Read more about heaven!
5. Seek to take, as many as possible, to heaven with you.