Are you ready for heaven? With Nigel Lawrence and SBC 15/03/2026

Jesus’s title as Wonderful Counselor frames a sharp call to spiritual investment: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire” (Revelation 3:18). That counsel challenges every believer to examine where a name gets written—on earth or in heaven—and to make choices that shape eternal destiny. The burial grounds of Macpelah and the Potter’s Field illustrate two outcomes: the righteous resting in the cave of promise and the rejected lying in the field bought with blood money. The world offers temporary pleasures and 30 pieces of silver; the upward call demands denial, cross-bearing, and a life hidden in the rock.

Scripture teaches that heaven will hold both the poor and the rewarded, since each person’s works face the refiner’s fire (1 Corinthians 3). Work built with gold, silver, and precious stones endures and yields reward; work built with wood, hay, and straw burns, leaving the person saved but bereft of heavenly treasure. Practical pathways to buy refined gold appear across the Gospels and Epistles: generous hospitality to the poor and stranger; sacrificially giving up comforts for the kingdom; disciplined prayer and fasting kept from public show; faithful labor done as service to the Lord; patient endurance under insult and affliction; radical love for enemies; and shrewd, compassionate stewardship of earthly wealth to lift others’ burdens.

Parables and true-to-life stories bring these paths into focus: the unjust steward’s clever mercy becomes a lesson to use worldly means to create eternal welcome; near-death accounts underscore a welcoming committee in paradise made up of those helped or led to Christ. Light affliction, offered with thanksgiving, produces an “eternal weight of glory.” The closing summons insists that choice still stands: accept the 30 pieces of silver or have a name written in heaven by trusting Christ, denying self, and following. An open invitation urges those unsure of their standing to confess sin, receive forgiveness, and begin the way that stores treasure in the world to come.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Buy gold refined in fire True spiritual wealth comes from actions tested by God’s refining fire, not from earthly comfort or reputation. Choosing costly obedience—sacrifices, discipline, and faithfulness—produces treasure that endures beyond death. Where present choices tie to eternal reward, the believer learns to prefer kingdom profit over temporal gain. [21:25]
• 2. Hospitality stores treasure in heaven Welcoming the poor, the stranger, and those who cannot repay creates spiritual investments that repay at the resurrection. Hospitality forces dependence on God’s timing and flips worldly transaction into kingdom economy. Small acts of costly welcome reveal Christ’s heart and accumulate eternal reward. [32:19]
• 3. Work as for the Lord Labor done “as to the Lord” reframes routine effort into worship and stewardship, making even unnoticed tasks eternal opportunities. Faithful service exposes character more than circumstance and secures inheritance rewards apart from human praise. Consistency in hidden service shapes destiny more than occasional spectacle. [38:16]
• 4. Use wealth to welcome others Earthly resources serve kingdom ends when used to lift burdens and make friends for eternity. Generosity that frees people from debt or hardship creates a heavenly welcoming committee and invests in eternal dwellings. Stewardship requires seeing money as entrusted, not owned, and spending with forever in view. [49:09]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [20:12] - Opening Prayer
• [20:48] - Jesus: Wonderful Counselor
• [21:25] - Revelation 3:18 Counsel Explained
• [22:20] - Identity and the Frank Abagnale Story
• [23:23] - Names Written: Heaven or Earth
• [24:07] - Abraham Buys Macpelah
• [25:15] - Sheol’s Two Parts Explained
• [27:03] - Tomb and Potter’s Field Contrast
• [28:19] - Are You Ready For Heaven?
• [29:16] - Works Tested by Fire
• [32:19] - Hospitality as Heavenly Investment
• [33:41] - Sacrifice and Hundredfold Promise
• [35:05] - Prayer and Fasting Rewards
• [38:16] - Working as for the Lord
• [41:23] - Blessing Insults and Persecution
• [43:27] - Love Your Enemies Practically
• [46:26] - Affliction Produces Eternal Glory
• [48:50] - Stewardship and the Unjust Manager
• [54:01] - Store Treasure; Parable of Vineyard
• [57:06] - Where Is Your Name Written?
• [57:32] - Invitation to Receive Christ

1. What specific counsel does Jesus give in Revelation 3:18, and what does He offer to those who follow it?
2. According to the sermon, what are the two possible places where a person’s name can be written, and what do these represent? [23:23]
3. What kinds of materials are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:12–15 for building on the foundation of Christ, and what happens to each kind when tested by fire? [29:37]
4. What practical actions does Scripture highlight as ways to “buy gold refined in the fire” and store up treasure in heaven? [32:19] [38:16] [43:27]

1. Why might Jesus use the imagery of “gold refined by fire” to describe true spiritual wealth? What does refinement imply about the process of gaining heavenly treasure?
2. How does the contrast between Abraham’s burial cave and Judas’s Potter’s Field illustrate the eternal consequences of our choices? [27:03]
3. In what ways does treating earthly resources as entrusted stewardship rather than personal ownership change how a person uses money? [52:35]
4. Jesus says in Luke 6:35 that loving enemies leads to great reward. How does this counter worldly logic, and what does it reveal about God’s economy?

1. Hospitality that expects nothing in return stores up treasure in heaven. [32:19] Who is one person—someone who cannot repay you—that you could intentionally show kindness to this week?
2. Working “as for the Lord” transforms daily tasks into eternal investments. [38:16] What is one area of your work or routine where you struggle to maintain this perspective? How can you offer that work to Jesus this week?
3. Enduring insult or injustice with grace produces reward. [41:23] Is there someone in your life who mistreats you? What would it look like to respond with kindness instead of retaliation?
4. Light affliction, when met with thanksgiving, works eternal glory. [46:26] What current difficulty can you begin thanking God for, even if you don’t yet understand His purpose?
5. Using wealth to lift others’ burdens creates a “welcoming committee” in eternity. [52:57] Is there a practical need—financial, emotional, or spiritual—that you’re being prompted to help meet?
6. Jesus’ counsel in Revelation 3:18 is an invitation to invest in what lasts. Where are you currently investing more in temporary comfort than in eternal reward?
7. If your life’s work were tested by fire today, what would remain? What one change can you make to build more intentionally with “gold, silver, and precious stones”?