The Golf Cart and the Urn
Hi Friends,
The Lord is asking us to make a greater commitment to him. It is the same commitment, as it has always been, but many of us have not fully surrendered to his Lordship. He is coming back for a bride that loves him and is devoted to him, not for a complacent bride.
I have a vision to share with you today. I hope you will read this to understand the Lord’s heart for his people, and what he wants us to know in these last days.
The Vision
The Golf Cart and the Urn
In this vision I saw a golf cart, just like one we used this past December while visiting a park in Florida. The cart was used to get around the park without having to drive the car. At the back of the golf cart was an urn. It was white, about 20” high with graceful lines that resemble an urn of antiquity. It was spherical around the upper portion and then tapered towards the base. The urn had a short neck at the top creating an opening, and a cap to seal it shut. There were no handles.
Ages ago, urns like this might have been used to hold water, oil or wine. But many people today use urns like this to hold the ashes of a deceased loved one.
I believe that the vision speaks of the retirement years and the end of one’s life. Florida is a very common retirement destination, or second home for “snowbirds,” those who fly south to escape the winter months.
The golf cart is a symbol of being carefree and of enjoying the “good life.” The urn is a symbol of death and finality. The Lord brings these two symbols together to make a comparison between the American dream of retirement, and the inevitable event called death.
Death for many people is a scary thing, because they do not know what comes next. Is there an afterlife? Is there a heaven and a hell? People would rather not think about it. Instead, they spend hours planning and selecting the perfect location for retirement, and spend as little time as possible thinking of death and eternity.
Many of my friends are getting close to retirement. Some are planning to buy properties in Florida, and two couples already have. Florida is a tropical paradise compared to the northern states. Many think of Florida, as their “happy place,” an ideal location for retirement. Walking along the beach, smelling the ocean breeze and watching the waves lap the shore is a perfect way to spend a day. Others enjoy lunch with friends at a sidewalk cafe, under the shade of a palm tree. Some like golfing in the morning, and spending the afternoon playing cards or taking a nap in a hammock. It is an idyllic place with food, fun, and friends.
But where is the Lord in this picture? He may be tangential to the plan, but not the main idea, or the main attraction. The golf cart, presents the fun part of retirement. I have friends who were snow birds for quite a while, but are now back in New Jersey because of health issues. They want to be near the best hospitals and doctors. Now their lives revolve around doctors appointments and family gatherings.
Years ago the Lord gave me a dream.
The Pier
In this dream, I was standing on a long pier that went from the shore inland to a distant city. The pier was crowded with many people coming from the city headed towards the shore. I looked to my right and I saw an elderly couple. The man was lying on his back with his head in his wife’s lap. He appeared to be dying. She was greatly distressed, and I heard her speak, “We have spent our lives saving for our retirement, hoping that we would have many wonderful years to enjoy life here, but now it is coming to an end.”
In the dream, I knew that my destination was not to be the shore, but the city. As I walked on the crowded pier and boardwalk, I had to move around people who were all going toward the beach. They wanted to escape the city and go to where they hoped that they would find peace and relaxation.
This dream was one of many that God gave me showing that I would always be going in the opposite direction of everyone else. My goal and destination cannot be found on this earth, it is the heavenly city. It is the “New Jerusalem” the city of God, our eternal home.
“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. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He 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.”
Revelation 21:1-4
So the vision of the golf cart shows us that the plan of many people is to make earth their happy place, and retirement as the reward for which they have worked all their lives. The urn in the vision reminds us of the reality of death.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
But what causes some people to avoid thinking about their final destination, is that they have bought into teachings about eternal life that are simply lies.
Purgatory
Purgatory is one of these teachings that has no basis in truth. It is merely a human construct that gives some people comfort. But unfortunately, people holding onto this lie, have nothing genuine, but only a false sense of security.
Purgatory was created by man to lessen the impact of sin and avoid hell altogether. People have always wanted their cake and eat it too. They do not want to give up their sinful pleasures, and at the same time, they want to avoid hell. This is why purgatory was created. Not by God, but but man’s imagination.
When we sin, we need to confess our sins one to another, and ask God to forgive us. That is how we are to deal with the sin issue. It is called repentance. We come to godly sorrow over our sins, and change our thoughts, desires and behaviors to align with God’s word.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.” James 5:16
But false doctrines, like the existence of Purgatory, skirt the sin issue. This doctrine describes a way to avoid hell and go to heaven without the Lord’s blood sacrifice on the cross. Purgatory is described as a neutral place somewhere between heaven and hell where a person who has not lived a righteous life, and “earned his wings,” will go after death. After he pays his debt of sin, with his time and penance in purgatory he will graduate to heaven. An alternate plan of purgatory is to have his living relatives pray, or pay for a certain number of masses to be said in his name, so that he will advance to heaven.
This is ludicrous. It denies the Lord’s death for the remission of sins. It denies God’s holiness, and his demand for a payment for sin. Man is incapable of paying for his own sins. Jesus’ offered himself, as the lamb of God, as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Why would he have come to die, if all we have to do is wait in purgatory until someone prays us into heaven, or until we pay for our sins with time?
Sin is a debt that no one but Christ could pay. Salvation by grace through faith is at the heart of the Lord’s gospel.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
The Israelites performed animal sacrifices to atone for sin. But that did not remove sin, it only covered sin. It had to be done year after year, because an animal is not a perfect sacrifice. But when Jesus’ blood was shed, it satisfied the debt of sin, for all time, for everyone who believes.
But there is responsibility on our part to accept his blood as an atonement for our sin. It is not automatic. We must surrender to the Lord’s sovereignty. Salvation is free to those who believe. But the cost was great. It was a heavy price for the Son of God to leave heaven to come to earth, live in the flesh and die in our place, to shed his blood, so that we could be redeemed. That is true love!
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:17
But how do we accept this great salvation? How do we know that we will be saved?
Born Again
The following passage is very important because Jesus addresses eternal life in his conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-8
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:14-18
There are scriptures throughout the Bible that add clarity.
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:8-10
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
But there are also important parables and teachings that the Lord uses to further clarify the good news of the gospel and of salvation and eternal life.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23
This brings a question into our hearts: Why Lord? How could these people do great works in your name and not know you? Do you remember the seven sons of Sceva? They were performing works of deliverance with success yet did not know the Lord, until one day when a demon questioned their authority.
“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” Acts 19:13-16
We must have a true relationship with the Lord if we are seeking eternal life.
Think of the ten virgins. Five of them were foolish and five of them were wise. They were all believers for the story tells us that they were all virgins, they all had lamps, and they all went out to meet the bridegroom. But the difference was having extra oil. What does the oil represent? The idea of “intimacy,” a close relationship with the Lord is how some interpret this passage. In the story, after the foolish virgins go to buy oil for their lamps, the wise go into the wedding banquet and the door is shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hours.” Matthew 25:11-13
The Lord tells us to be watchful, and to be ready, to be expecting his return at any moment. If we have no oil, representing a close relationship with him, then the door will be shut for us too. So take the time now to get to know him. Walk with him, spend time in his word, understand his heart, learn to love what he loves, wait upon him and worship him.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-18
When we know him as friend, when we can share our troubles, and our joys with him, when we feel his presence in worship, and when we see his hand in our lives, we will know that he loves us. As he is faithful, he asks us to be faithful.
Complacency
But now we must speak of another false teaching to avoid, for it causes complacency: “Once saved, always saved.” No—this is not true. There is something called personal apostasy, which means to fall away. It is entirely possible that through hardship, persecution or the disapproval of someone we respect, to cause us to lose heart and walk away from God. Some will give up their faith to marry someone of a different faith. Some let other desires and commitments come between them and their devotion to God. Our jobs, our families, and the desire for money and success, can all hinder our walk with God. Soon the love they once had for him becomes nothing but a memory.
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13
“To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7
“He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death (hell) .” Revelation 2:11
So, we have to endure to the end, and overcome every obstacle, if we want to be found faithful.
“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” John 14:21
Salvation is not an object to be purchased, nor is it something that you earn with good deeds. A man I know told me that he believed God would judge us by keeping a running tally of our good deeds and our bad. He described it much like a children’s cartoon, where an angel sits on one shoulder and a demon sits on the other, both keeping score. If the good deeds out pace the bad sins, then we get to go to heaven. What a doctrine!
These false doctrines like “Once saved always saved,” and Purgatory come from man’s heart which is deceitful and leads one far from God.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9
“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” Matthew 15:8-9
God is holy, we need to fear him.
“But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, “Be holy for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
The Lord’s teachings were very strong, very serious. He did not mince words or candy coat messages. Here is one that comes to mind:
“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.” Mark 9:47
The writer of Hebrews wrote with these sobering words:
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” Hebrews 10:26-27
Abiding in Him
I believe that the key to living a life pleasing to God is to abide in him. He is our peace, he is our healer, our deliverer, our provider, our all in all. If we abide in him, he will keep us under the shelter of his wing. All the worries and cares of this world will not move us if we are able to trust him. And thank the Lord, that he gives us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth who leads us and helps us to abide in him.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5-8
But why do we make things so difficult? Why do we get so hung up on success, material possessions and what others think? These are things of the world that are passing away. Our life here is but a vapor compared to all eternity. Why do we want the things of the world? For our pleasures? For our comforts?
“Do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4
If we are seeking the pleasures of this world, planning our vacations and retirement, rather than looking ahead to our eternal home with the Lord, then we have our priorities in the wrong place.
“Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that to face judgment, so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:27-28
If we are doing nothing in anticipation of our meeting with the Lord, then we will be terribly sorry when that day comes.
Making Peace with Him
However, if you want to make your peace with God, now is a perfect time. Come before him with a humble heart, and ask him to forgive your sins. Decide today, that you will surrender your will to his will. Honor him as the Lord of your life. Choose him over your passions, over your job, your career, your best friend and your family. And read the word of God so that you understand him and appreciate who he is, rather than making a God that you create in your own imagination, that has the attributes that you want him to have!
“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” Matthew 10:37-38
I know this has been a tough message. But it is the truth that sets us free. Better to know now and have time to change than to not know and do nothing to change. God is merciful, and faithful. He loves us so much. All he wants is your love, obedience and faithfulness. He wants your heart to be his. Can you give him your heart today?
Please share this post with literally everyone that you know. The time is short. There might not be another opportunity to share the Lord with a friend or loved one. Today is the day of salvation.
God bless you all! Let us make plans to be faithful to the very end!
