"HEAVEN" ❖ Randy Alcorn

all right welcome this is continuity and discontinuity what's the difference going to be between present life on earth which we are familiar with most of us and future life on the new earth there's going to be a lot that we're going to cover in here so I've crammed a lot into PowerPoint slides and we're going to move pretty rapidly originally when I was told this was going to be a workshop I thought great everybody introduce yourself say where you're from say something about your family does not quite work with this many people probably those of you in the back I'm imagining some of you will want to move forward some of the slides have smaller font than than others that link website link is there so that you can see the whole PowerPoint presentation will be there no need to take notes you can get it there you can get links to videos articles my favorite books on new heavens and new earth on the subject of heaven and all of the theologians I will quote from in this presentation any work I quote from will be accessible to you there let's pray together father thank you so much for your love and your grace we give ourselves to you we pray that you would be honored and glorified in this time together and that our hearts and our minds could be moved to understand what you have revealed to us in your word which is such a great salvation and a redemptive plan that is far bigger than many believers in Christ's have ever imagined we pray that you would stir our hearts and imaginations and minds in Jesus name Amen so disclaimer first I've not actually been to heaven and you know there was a time when that went without saying that's no longer the case we actually had somebody call our ministry television program they wanted to do you know special on heaven and they asked one of our staff members so this is randy Alcorn ministry and he's written a best-selling book on heaven right and she says yes and they go on and talk and then they're trying to set everything up and then they clarify now randy has actually been to heaven correct and well no as far as I know if he has he's never mentioned it and so they said oh oh sorry we really need somebody that's been there and so that was the end of that discussion so just in case somebody needs to leave and go to another workshop however at the Gospel Coalition I'm thinking your chances are pretty slim finding some one of the other workshops that's been to heaven as well so the most important aspect of heaven is we shall see God we will relate to him forever we will see him as he is what a glorious thing though not the subject of this workshop not because it's not worthy it's the most worthy but of course others at other times are talking about this and this one isn't on the subject of continuity there's insufficient time to fulfill the workshop description I read that through when I send I say who is the idiot who wrote this and then I realized it was me there's no possible way we can get this all in an hour so I'm just going to do my best and I hope some of the practical applications will be somewhat evident as our hearts are stirred and our minds are challenged again that website includes the PowerPoint videos articles authors and books all of that all right Isaac Asimov very well-known unbeliever who wrote so many science fiction novels many of which I enjoyed though his worldview did tend to come out sometimes but still fanciful entertaining tragically Isaac Asimov wrote I don't believe in an after life so I don't have to spin my whole life fearing how or fearing heaven even more like if you don't believe something well then okay now you're free but unfortunately or fortunately our beliefs don't determine reality as I'm afraid Isaac Asimov now knows but what he says is for whatever the tortures of hell I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse that is the stereotypical view of heaven out in our culture now let me follow with this and when you find out who said it it's going to take on another dimension though this is a very common view whenever I think about heaven it makes me depressed I'd rather cease to exist when I die I can't stand the thought of endless boring tedium to me heaven doesn't sound much better than hell I'd rather be annihilated than spend eternity like that these words were spoken to me by an evangelical pastor now the question that I would ask is how could a man who loved God very genuinely and who studied the word and was a graduate of Bible College in seminary how could he have this view of heaven but it's not restricted to him I had a youth pastor's wife write me about one of my novels my novel deadline and said this is the first time I have ever heard about heaven in a way that didn't scare me about the idea of going there as I grew up in a Christian family went to a Christian school where we were taught then when we got to heaven we wouldn't remember this life we wouldn't remember the people that we knew it would be all brand-new and there would be no connection between our life here in our life there and the idea absolutely terrified me well what a scriptures say revelation 22 3 through 5 I'm usually when I don't say what the version is it's the ESV only appropriate at the gospel coalition and it's what I usually use but sometimes the NIV I think gets it right on the money and this is one of those no longer will there be any curse God's servants it's talking about in context will serve him what a servants do that they always have things to do places to go people to see that there's no boredom in the life of the servant and to be delivered from the curse boredom is part of the curse will be delivered from will look back at this life and go boy that could be a boring sometimes but never again in the ages to come Ephesians 2:7 says God will be revealing to us the riches of His grace and his kindness to us in Christ Jesus we will learn throughout eternity when we die will remain finite you know I every once while I hear somebody say well of course once we die and we're with the Lord we'll know everything no only God knows everything we will be learning and growing in our knowledge of God they will see his face what could be better than that and if you think that heaven will be boring and heaven is being with God then this reveals that you actually think an attribute of God is boring it's not he's the most exciting being by far in the universe he invented excitement sure as we've made it a building things he created animals which are so fascinating and God's people will reign forever and ever where will we reign up in some disembodied state up where the angels are where we'll drift around now there's nothing to rule how do you rule well guess what God's plan in Genesis 2 I will create man mankind in my image and they together man and woman will rule the earth rule the earth to God's glory that was his original plan and do you know that many evangelical Christians and I'm tempted to say most actually believe that God's original plan got foiled derailed and will never be fulfilled so that though he created the world to be managed and led and ruled benevolently by human beings only two human beings ever will have experienced that Adam and Eve and them apparently for a very short time and then Satan came in and Satan apparently got the victory over God because now God has to resign himself to snatching Souls out of this world and taking them to the angelic realm forever that is not what the Bible teaches not even close God did not give up on his original plan for us to rule the earth any more than he gave up on us and he didn't give up on the earth either the biblical view of redemption is not just individual and personal it is cosmic in nature this is not universalism that every person will be safe some will be in hell forever sadly I believe that is what the Bible teaches I shouldn't say it that way sadly I what the Bible teaches is right and good and just but what I mean is it is sad for people to be separated forever from him no believer who understands what scripture actually says about eternal life will ever see it as dull or boring or dreadful no way which means by the way and we have many pastors elders church leaders where leaders all they're here we've got to teach we have got to teach a biblical view of the breath of redemption that includes life on the new earth and reigning over the new earth for eternity in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth now heavens the earth in the Hebrew and they're equivalent words in the Greek speak of the universe so another a pair of a good paraphrase of Genesis 1:1 would be in the beginning God created the universe it consists of the heavens and the earth it's not just heaven a location where God dwells but the heavens the celestial heavens the Stars the planet the galaxies the quasars the black holes the neutron stars the nebulae all of that in his universe he's the creator but then we're told in Isaiah 65 in the midst of a terrible situation of dominance and exploitation and fear and dread that they were experiencing God says behold I will create new heavens and a new earth I will remake the universe and some people just are so narrow in their understanding of this that they're they look at this passage as if it's just talking about God has a plan for the nation Israel well yes he does but God has a plan for the people of God but it's not limited to that because he didn't just say I will create redeemed people it's I will create new heavens and a new earth Isaiah 66 22 also refers to the new heavens and the new earth in keeping with his promise we are looking forward here's second Peter 3:13 and ask yourself this question are you looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth do you notice that Peter takes for grant of course all Christians are daily all the time look forward to a new heaven and a new earth the home of righteousness this earth will be redeemed and it will be the home of righteousness and God will remove the sin the curse the cause for weeping it will be gone and we will reign over a new earth to the glory of God forever and that's what the people of God in the midst of persecution they said things aren't going well for us on this earth but you know what they didn't need bucket lists to say you know gee I wish my wife like my life had gone better you know and because you only go around once this is our one time on this earth no according to the Bible you actually on earth go around twice and the second time will last forever it's resurrected life on a resurrected Earth Revelation 21:1 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and a lot of people look at this yeah they passed away it's like second Peter 3 it's the the elements have been dissolved no trace of the Old Earth it is gone forever but use the logic with that we're told we will have new bodies but our new bodies will be what our old bodies resurrected becoming new bodies so likewise the earth will be destroyed sure just like people who live 5,000 years ago their bodies are destroyed they're part of the ecosystem well they're gone for good oh no God can reconstruct and will reconstruct in the resurrection whether he uses DNA or just does whatever God does you know he doesn't have to have a way to do it he's God he just does it and forever we will live in such a redeemed universe and that's the promise of God now Anthony hokum his book the Bible and the few I highly recommend this book Anthony hokum is an example of an amillennial theologian I am historic premillennial as as John Piper alluded to that's what he is when grudem is that many people here are all millennial uh if you by the way think that the pre-meal position is just stupid or you think the army'll position is just stupid it's because you don't understand them I have read and understand both of them and both of them make a lot of sense but ultimately we have to choose and this is what I think is true but what I love is that it doesn't matter what we believe about a thousand year reign of Christ and his people on earth I won't say it doesn't matter it is some but it doesn't matter a great deal compared to a belief that all premillennial and amillennial people should share and I suppose post-millennial people as well and that is that forever forever we will live on a new earth so we're agreeing on the ultimate eschatology unless we spiritualize it and we do what I call in my heaven book crystal crystal Platonism which is kind of a Christianized form of Platonism that says now the world the flesh the body it's all bad and then ultimately we'll just be in a spirit world not the teaching of Scripture though some of the church fathers unfortunately we're influenced that way so going on what hokum uh says going back in 2nd Peter 3:13 in Revelation 21:1 the word used to designate the newness of the new cosmos is not nias but kynos neon kynos means new in nature or quality the new earth is not God creating something ex nihilo out of nothing it is God taking the old and may deem it new we'll talk a little bit more about that he says so it's not the emergence of a cosmos totally other than the present one but a universe which though gloriously renewed stands in continuity with the present one so should we call the new earth heaven glad you asked that question NT right in his book surprised by hope says no how many of you have read that book by NT Wright okay some of you have he says no we shouldn't call it that in fact he he says something very nice about my heaven book and he sent me a few emails related to it when he was doing his background research my book had come out about three years earlier and then he actually says in his book that randy Alcorn has a biblical and robust view of heaven and then he said I mean I'm sorry of the new earth and then he says some of the effect of which is surprising for someone from his background so there's a little bit of a backhanded compliment but that's okay I'll take it back compliment but but nonetheless that but then what he goes on to say is the one area where he takes issue with my book is that the title of the book is heaven but predominantly I'm talking about the new earth and he says you should not call the new earth heaven because heaven will be replaced by the new earth using expressions like heaven is not our home I do like this statement heaven is important but it's not the end of the world which is one way to put it okay so what and where is heaven so we can resolve this issue at least in my mind first heaven is the triune God special central dwelling place where he lives with angels and his redeemed people secondly it is that place where God's throne is it's both of those the location from which he rules the universe and carries out his sovereign plan so there is a present heaven and there is a future heaven in in my thinking two different time frames you go to heaven immediately when you die but it's not one at a time resurrection when people talk about what people die and I've heard people say and he's up there now and his resurrection body and all know that the resurrection doesn't happen to a point of time in the future so it is apparently a disembodied State though as I deal with in my books on heaven many times people in the present heaven are depicted in very physical ways including there's a tree the tree of life is there relocated apparently from the Garden of Eden and people carrying palm branches and wearing robes and speaking talking kneeling doing things that imply some kind of physicality but clearly they don't have our resurrection body yeah eventually we will so two different conditions pre and post resurrection two different locations the present heaven is called up it's likely outside of our space-time experience I shouldn't say space-time experience I'll just say in another dimension it but it's like I use the analogy of it's like a layover so we flew here to Orlando from Portland Oregon with our friends the keels and so we stopped for a layover in Houston but if anybody was asking us oh you're headed off somewhere where are you going would we say Houston or would we say Orlando well normally you'd say Orlando now I will grant you the president heaven is a great whale okay so I'd rather depart and be with Christ which is better by far to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord I'm torn between the zoo the desire to be with Christ you know that all happens at death we're with the Lord so it's wonderful but it's temporary it's not our final destination so both the present heaven and the future heaven are really having now revelation 21 2 and 3 says God's future special dwelling place will be with his people on the new earth John says I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God coming down where to the new earth I don't buy this idea that some have a well it doesn't actually arrive on the new earth it kind of hovers over it no I think it's very clear it's coming down to the new earth and so here we're told this by God now is there any mistaken what this passage is saying the dwelling place of God is with man that's as of the new earth he will dwell with them and God Himself will be with them and be their God do you think God is going to come down and be with us on the new earth well I don't know what else we could have asked him to say than what he said he's going to be with us so it's it's Emmanuel God with us forever you know Jesus incarnation did not end after his death or resurrection or ascension he will be the in car not the second member of the triune God will be incarnate for ever and we will dwell with him the throne of God and of the lamb somehow the father is described as having this throne and of the lamb will be on the new earth and we're taught this so the new earth will be God's central dwelling place where you live with his people and where his throne will be located and that's why if we understand that yes it the new earth will be different from the present pre resurrection heaven and it will be a fully embodied existence then it's right to call the new earth heaven to call it the future have it so this is an issue that NT Wright has that I respectfully disagree with even though I think the vast majority of his book on how have and the new earth is accurate so the new earth is where we will forever have life after life after death so not just life after death where a lot of people think ok grandma dies she loves Jesus she goes home to be with the Lord and that's the home that the carpenter from Nazareth promised to build for us in my father's house are many rooms dwelling places I go to prepare a place for you and that's where we'll live forever up there with the Angels but that's not the teaching of Scripture and you see that scripture is so much broader than this Ephesians 1 9 and 10 it talks about the mystery of God's will according to its purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him things in heaven and things on earth Colossians 1:20 through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven again heaven and earth brought together making peace by the blood of his cross I'm not going to read all of this from Colossians 1 I was kind of setting it in context but for purposes of time I would just emphasize how many times do you see the term all things all things in heaven and create on earth visible invisible created by him all things all things hold together to reconcile to himself all things whether earth and have all things in the original Greek I'll bet you know what it means it means all things which is why all the translators translated that way so wink Reutimann is systematic theology do a lot of you use Grinham raise your hand if you've used yes a lot of you do good if you don't send the books or get it and then the smaller addition of that Bible doctrine also excellent or abridgement Christians often talk about living with God in heaven forever but the fact but in fact the biblical teaching is richer than that it tells us that there will be new heavens and a new earth and entirely renewed creation and we will live with God there there will also be a new kind of unification of heaven and earth there will be a new joining of heaven and earth in this new creation what's the biblical basis of that we just saw it it's specifically stated in Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 think about the most commonly prayed prayer in all human history don't you think the Lord's Prayer probably qualifies as that so what have God's people prayed more than anything else they've ever pray your kingdom come your will be done up there where the Angels dwell on earth as it is in heaven got a question for you do you think God is going to answer that prayer forever the Bible clearly teaches he will Habakkuk says the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea kokomo says the new earth will also be heaven since God will dwell there with his people glorify believers in other words will continue to be in heaven while they inhabit the new earth Albert Walters another book this is just small book that I highly recommend if you're not going to read something as big as my big Heaven book read something small like this creation Regained he says redemption in Jesus Christ reaches us reaches just as far as the fall the horizon of creation is at the same time the horizon of sin and salvation Walter says to conceive of either the fall or Christ deliverance as encompassing anything less than the whole of creation is to compromise the biblical teaching of the radical nature of the fall and the cosmic scope of redemption can I just say we need to teach this to our children we need to preach this message because this worldview is the greatest worldview there has ever been and it also happens to be true you compare it to other worldviews and there's there's nothing like it it's dramatically better than everything else and it's so ironic that in an age where many Christians compromise their their view of Scripture in order to say something that's appealing to the world and here we have the most unbelievably appealing doctrine of a renewed earth a renewed creation renewed culture and all the things that are part of the doctrine of the new earth and we haven't been teaching it and why say we I mean most churches are not getting this message out most children growing up in Christian homes do not understand this so when people are tempted to compromise what the Bible says to say something that sounds more appealing we're sitting on something that's more appealing and we're portraying heaven as this place where little cherub angel babies you know shoot arrows on Valentine's Day and you know I mean but it's just come on that is not a biblical view of heaven no child wants to grow up to be a ghost anymore than they you're never going to in the same way that we will never develop an appetite for gravel we will never develop an appetite for Wow drifting around playing harps whoa first of all if you're disembodied I don't know how you play a harp but playing harps would be just and doing nothing else would be oh so much fun for maybe a hundred thousand years but wouldn't it start to get old well the bible does not teach that that's what we're going to do Isaac Watts was not only a great hymn writer but a great theologian and he wrote in this very familiar Christmas hymn no more let sins and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground he comes to make his blessings flow fill it in far as the curse is found how far does God's redemptive plan go as far as the curse is found how far is the curse found as far as we know everywhere in the created universe his book on heaven called the world to come highly recommend that book you got a sift through some of the language of course but it's it's amazing you can you can find it online so Indy Wright says the early Christians believed that God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter isn't that a great holistic view what happened with Jesus is not only a picture of our resurrection it's a picture it's the first fruits it's the promise it's the indicator of what he is going to do with the entire universe so blessed Jesus said are the meek and yes that word macario's really does mean happy look it up in the lexicons happy are the meek for they shall inherit what a disembodied state in heaven now the meek are going to inherit the earth wow there's a BC comic where the one guy is reading the Bible he says oh my goodness the other guy says what the Bible says one day the earth will be destroyed and the other guy says do the meat no this may it's a good question what is this promise is this a meaningless promise well a meek will inherit the earth but you're never going to see it or at most you'll see it for a thousand years that doesn't end well I do believe in a literal Millennial Kingdom but I'll tell you the big fault with people who hold the premillennial position like I do is that they look at all the new earth passages and they just turn him into millennial passages now we're done with the new earth that is the wrong approach so we're told in Daniel 7 he the son of man Messiah was given Authority glory and sovereign power all peoples nations and men of every language worshipped him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed and read it in context Daniel 7 is talking about kingdoms on earth he's talking about these four dominant kingdoms on earth and then he says they're going to rebe replaced by one where the son of man rules the earth forever in people of every nation tribe and language worship Him sound familiar like revelation 5 and 7 and then we're told this in Daniel 7 18 but the Saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom the kingdom that replaces on earth those earthly kingdoms and will possess the kingdom forever forever and ever did we get is there an extra word in there or a couple of extra words oh I like the way the NIV translates it here they will possess it forever yes forever and ever and it's almost like God was anticipating in time where people would think well I mean maybe for just a thousand years but certainly no more than that because then it will be no more Kingdom on earth you could not have a more emphatic declaration repeated several times in Daniel 7 that God's kingdom on earth will last forever but the court of God will sit and his this this evil earthly leader perhaps Antichrist power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever and then the sovereignty power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole earth will be handed over to the Saints the people of the Most High leadership will be handed over to us we're part of the family of God you know what the family business is it's ruling over creation ruling over God's creation he has delegated authority to us to rule the earth his kingdom as if we haven't been told enough will be an everlasting kingdom and the word translated everlasting you know what that means it's everlasting and all rulers will worship in Oban there will be human rulers all in this everlasting Kingdom God will rule all he's the king of kings capital K King lowercase K King the king over kings Jorge Eldon lad and his theology New Testament said everything in the Gospels points the idea that life in the kingdom of God and the age to come will be life on the earth life transformed by the kingdom of God Martyn lloyd-jones great doctrines of the Bible a lot of you love Martyn lloyd-jones so that you saw the movie last night everything will be glorified even nature itself and that seems to me to be the biblical teaching about the eternal state that what we call heaven is life in this perfect world as God intended humanity to live it men and women are meant live in the body and will live in a glorified body in a glorified world and God will be with them so when you're talking with your children or those of us who are older and have grandchildren like Nancy and I do um let's give them this vision of a glorified Earth when they're going down a waterslide don't teach them that well of course you know one day you won't have a body I mean in eternity you won't have a body and there won't be water and so there won't be water slides and you won't have fun but we'll be worshipping God day and night so look forward to it yeah but see here's the thing we will be worshipping God all the time as we do the water slide thing you know God who we're told in Romans one that we're Sebastin is attributes in his creation have you ever watched otters play okay this is what they do all day they play and eat and God created them now I know there are some people who play and eat and that's all they do all day but that's a different story but but my point is God values those things Psalm 104 I was reading the other day Leviathan the great monster of the deep who God says he created to play to play in the ocean the teams with creatures men and women are meant to live in the body and live a glorified life in a glorified world Anthony Buzzard in his book our fathers aren't in heaven now I disagree with some of his theology he believes in in soul sleep for instance but he's right in much of what he says about the new earth Christianity must yet triumph in a renovated earth and with the returned Messiah as universal king or failed because that's how integral it is to the promise of the gospel there is no third alternative so you see in Luke 19 the promise you shall have authority over 10 cities you are to over five cities and a lot of people just say well uh we take that figuratively because of course there won't be cities in heaven well we know they'll be the New Jerusalem for sure so they'll be at least one city we also know that the gates of the New Jerusalem will be entered into from the kings of the nations of the earth we're told the end of Revelation 21 hogatha says God will make the new earth his dwelling place heaven and earth will then no longer be separate as they are now but they will be one and he says this to leave the new earth out of consideration when we think of the final state of believers is greatly to impoverish biblical teaching about the life to come so continuity Jobe says well I just I'm always amazed when people say of course there's no reference to resurrection in the Old Testament okay after my skin has been destroyed we're not talking about a bad skin condition here we are talking about being eaten by worms this is death and decay after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh I shall see God who I mean after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh my skin destroyed I will have flesh in the future that's resurrection I shall see God I will see him with my own eyes and if we didn't get the continuity and once again is God bending over backwards here I will see him with my own eyes that you think that would be enough but then he says in case you didn't get it I am NOT another that is a fundamental statement of continuity from this life to the next for the trumpet will sound first Corinthians 15 says and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed but the one who has changed we are the ones who are changed it will still be us but change we are perishable now we will be raised imperishable 2nd Corinthians 5:10 we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body whether good or bad so is the person who dies to go to be with the Lord the same person well of course they've undergone change but the whole point of the judgement see and appearing and giving an account for our lives here is meaningless if it's not us there is continuity between this light the whole doctrine of eternal reward assumes continuity the same person from this life goes in to the next life yes covered in the righteousness of Christ as we already are about we will not just be sanctified will ultimately be glorified but it will really be us if we endure we will also reign with him 2nd Timothy 2 says Jesus said at the renewal of all things when the Son of man sits on his glorious throne you who have followed me will also sit on 12 Thrones judging or ruling the 12 tribes of Israel so Jesus directly referred to the time when all things would be renewed here in Matthew 19 peer in the second sermon recorded in the book of Acts said I is talking about Jesus he says whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things notice again it's all it's comprehensive about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago which by the way should be a clue to us when we're reading the prophets if we're not seeing a promise that God is going to restore all things we're not reading them the way the Bible says we should right because Peter saw it Peter says it's right there about how God's going to store all the things that have been have fallen all the things under the curse Jesus as I am making all things new and revelation 21:5 so our mountains rivers oceans stars planets animals culture arts music literature sports are they included in all things or was there like an asterisk all things asterisks except most things no primary discontinuity passage now here's what i'ma do I'm going to tell you we're going to buzz through these in order to get to some other things before I run out of time but look them up online at that link that I gave you and you can get the whole thing but I'm going to move really quickly to the point that you're not going to be able to follow it through this but I will go back to this one it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body this is used all the time I talk with people all the time says well I mean the Bible tells us we won't have a physical body we'll have a spiritual body can I just emphasize the fact that spiritual is the adjective and body is them now that's important because the noun is the thing is the thing spiritual is a description of it to be a body something must have physicality it must have what a body has yeah you can use body of Christ as an expression figurative or whatever but that's not what he's talking about in this context very clearly so it is a body it's physical so if I said I was going to give you a new car which I'm not going to just hypothetical if I was going to give you a new car would you say oh I'll bet that car won't have a steering wheel it won't have tires it won't have a transmission it won't have a dashboard it won't have windshield it won't have brakes no it's a car it's a new car with better features new body better features indestructible I mean that's not just better features that's way better features but the car will still be a car the body will still be a body the new earth will still be an earth or it wouldn't be called an earth I'm so tempted to go off on the ocean thing but I'm gonna say if you don't read this in my heaven book I I have a book called we shall see God where it's 60% Charles Spurgeon and 40% me it's Charles Spurgeon on heaven and that's 60% is by far the better part of the book and so it's one of those easier to get forgiveness than permission that when I meet Charles Spurgeon ah you know he may find out that we were co-authors of a book and uh I didn't ask his permission which I guess if I had one of those after death experiences I could and then come back and say anyway so alright this idea of no time in heaven totally false even in the present heaven the people of God cry out how long Sovereign Lord before you'll bring judgment on the hams of the earth and then the Lord tells them they must wait a little longer how long measurement of time wait a little longer measurement of time they serve Him day and night in his temple and the President had day and night measurement of time how's this one revelation 8:1 there was silence in heaven for about half an hour okay now when I point this out the people know I'll say no you're saying that there's timelessness in heaven so music doesn't have a start a middle or an end and quarter notes don't exist and half notes don't exist and what time we are creatures we live in time yes but God is above and outside of time sure but we're not God we're still going to be creatures we're still going to be finite how about the new earth will there be time there on side of the rivers to the tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit yielding its fruit every month so what's this based on revelation ten six in the King James says there should be time no longer but in its context first of all it's not a a it is not a good translation I'm not talking about the King James as a whole but in that passage it's the ESV the NIV and NLT all translated as there will be no more delay and when those three versions agree it must be right time will have run out that's what it means no time remaining before God brings judgment the trumpet of the Lord shall sound the time shall be no more yeah but it's not in the Bible I've had people call that but you know like the Bible says the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more well the trumpet parts there but not the time shall be no more do we forget this life when we die and go to heaven a lot of people take the Isaiah 65 17 passage of the former things will be forgotten as you see it proves that we won't remember anything well once again at the judgment seat how do you give an account when you don't remember your life will have to have better memories in heaven not worse memories or what about those martyrs are crying out how long before you judge and avenge our blood they not only remember their life on earth they remember being murdered for the gospel Wow and some people say but we couldn't possibly remember things that happened on earth because then it wouldn't be heaven for us well god knows what goes on earth the angels known it's heaven for them that key to heaven for us will be being in the presence of God and having his perspective not having a memory wipe the bible does not teach that what's the thing then about forgetting well even in the context of Isaiah 65 there's a reference in the near context about sins in the past and there here's another one in Jeremiah 31:34 our remember their sins no more so the idea is things passing away we will live happily ever after we have not passed our peaks we will not pass our peaks in this world the Bible teaches resurrection so when you have somebody like Nancy and I love Johnny Erickson tada she's a she's a good friend and Johnny will say all the time I look forward to the day when I'll be able to walk and run through meadows and do all these things on the new earth so she doesn't have to be a person who will be forever disappointed because she never knew what it was like or not since she was 17 and had that diving accident to be able to walk and do these things you have a loved one like we have good friends where the wife is suffering from Alzheimer's and it's just it's so hard it's so difficult but God will renew Debbie's mind Debbie did not pass her peak debbie has not reached her peak she will reach it in the resurrection and she will never go past for ever redeemed in body and mind no more sin as Paul helm says not only will we not sin not only will we not want to send we will not want to want to sin it'll all be behind us and that's why we don't need the bucket list if there's a New Jerusalem why would there not be a new Lake Victoria and could there be a new Orlando not so sure about a new Disney I don't know it's possible but but a new Orlando a new Portland a new Los Angeles a new Rome a new Nairobi whatever why not a new version of all the places that might be on a bucket list is a spiritual body non physical we've dealt with some of that Christ's resurrection body is is is the key they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit remember we're told that we'll see Jesus and we're going to be like Jesus our resurrection body will be like his so what was Jesus resurrection body like we don't have to speculate we know they thought they saw spirit when Jesus appeared because what else could it be he died he can't be here in his body and then Jesus said to them why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts see my hands and my feet that it is I myself it's really me touch now listen to this you've read it a hundred times or heard it preached let it sink in what will our resurrection body be like like his touch me and see for a spirit this is for all those who think spiritual body means non-physical for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have the inspired Word of God the Son of God Himself says that a resurrection body has flesh and bones when he said this he showed them his hands and his feet and they saw the scars that's the resurrection the Westminster Confession 1646 how many of you were around know all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies and none other although with different qualities the Westminster larger catechism the following year the self-same bodies of the Dead which were laid in the grave make no mistake about it being then again United to their souls for ever shall be raised up by the power of Christ so Christ new body mental body that hadn't existed before then his old body would have stayed in the tomb so if a man named Bob goes to heaven when he dies then Bob must be the old Bob made new or Bob doesn't real go to heaven now this is not just for people named Bob this is for everybody right do you get the logic with that we're talking about going to heaven well if it's not us than we didn't go to heaven right God made somebody else and maybe made him to look like us or maybe not maybe gave him our name but probably not by it's not really us well then we didn't go to heaven scripture clearly says will not only go to heaven but will be resurrected our bodies will be raised only if they remain our original bodies so now I'm going to move quickly to something I want to stress here here we go in the remaining minutes that we have 5 minutes whatever it is Time magazine poll this was back in 1997 I'm sure the same is probably true now of Americans who believe in a resurrection of the Dead 2/3 believe they will not have bodies after the resurrection now if these are people who believe in a resurrection of the Dead they've probably been taught something in church or raised in a Christian home at least nominal one may be a very serious authentic one two thirds of those who believe in a resurrection of the Dead believe they will not have bodies after the resurrection we've got a problem of word meaning resurrection you keep using that word I do not think it means what you think it means inigo montoya that great theologian who said this to what was a guys named miss messini or whatever his name was Wallace Shawn is the actor in the Princess Bride because he keeps using the word inconceivable it this would be inconceivable that this man would still be following us and this is inconceivable that he could climb up the side of this mountain well he keeps doing these things that the guy says are inconceivable and that's when he says I do not think that word means what you think it means and that's what's true of Resurrection I had a man in our church after I preached a message years ago I'm been a pastor since 1990 so this goes back but this is when I was still a pastor and I was talking about the the new earth the Resurrection having physical bodies eating and drinking which explicitly is referred to numbers of times that we will eat and drink in God's kingdom in fact Isaiah 26 says the Lord himself shall prepare a feast for his people with the finest of meats the best of wines how great a feast will that be God will be the chef and we will enjoy these feasts and Jesus says they'll come from the east and the west and they'll sit down together in God's kingdom and we will we will feast together how great will that be what an incredible experience but I'm talking about all this in the message in this man looks at me afterwards eases are you meaning to tell me that we will have bodies and eat and drink and then he said it just sounds so unspiritual why because spiritual and physical were opposites in his mind we have got to address that head-on you cannot understand scripture and I'm going to end with these next couple slides you cannot understand what Scripture is saying and have that viewpoint so notice the re in resurrection resurrection becoming embodied again after death the same body made alive redemption buying back what was formerly own reconciliation reckon silly ation regaining a friend Reed Newell making new again restoring to an original state regeneration being born again having a new beginning and restauration bringing back what was lost so we're going to finish right there thank you and why don't we pray together just a moment father there's so much in your work so much to be said in this area but thank you for the promise that we as resurrected beings will be part of ruling over a new earth a new universe new heavens and new earth that you will be king of kings and we will see your face and we will serve you and have things to do productively and that we will worship you as we see the new creation and all its richness and all its beauty and until that day comes lord help us to do what second Peter 3 says we are to do to be looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells empower us today and throughout the rest of our lives here to follow you wholeheartedly and to have that promise of a resurrected eternal life in your presence and with the people of God and help it to give us encouragement and hope in the darkest of times we pray these things in the name of Jesus amen thank you you you let me take the flip side of that from time I'm in fact more frequently than you may realize mr. Graham will get letters from people that say something like this you can't believe how bad a person I am God couldn't forgive me and it just ends up saying I I can't be saved where does grace come into that how would you reply to someone who said that well all of us are worse than we imagined and when a person comes to the conclusion that they are truly wicked truly undeserving they have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit I encourage people I say God is clearly at work in your life for you to even come to the realization of the depths of your sin you've got the Apostle Paul I'm the chief of all sinners and isn't is it remarkable that an arrogant prideful murderer of Christians comes to faith in Christ through the divine intervention on the road to Damascus and he becomes the primary spokesperson and the author of 13 or so letters in the New Testament ah do you think that that's just a coincidence you know suppose he had been just this righteous person all along in complete submission immediately heard about cry submitted to him you'd say Paul you just don't get it you don't get what it means to be sinful and not deserve the grace of God oh yeah he gets it he gets it big time and he understands the grace of God and and we should too there is no sin that is bigger than Jesus the Savior you

Channel: Hal's Pals

Views: 85,148

Keywords: Randy Alcorn (Author), Heaven, New Earth, New Heavens and New Earth, Resurrection

Id: TJitsfLpXkY

Length: 63min 17sec (3797 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 15 2015