Heaven Explained 1 | Allen Nolan

how many of you have seen the new Star Wars movie the force awakens well if you haven't you're probably like me I want to see the movie but I don't like fighting with crowds so I'm gonna wait till almost everyone has seen the movie and then I'm gonna go see it but you know I might I might be waiting a while because the movies been out for six weeks and it's still filling up theatres I like going to the Warren theater of the AMC and it allows you to purchase your tickets online and so I want to see how many people are in there and I keep checking it every week and it's like oh my gosh it's still being sold out in fact it's actually setting records according to Forbes magazine Star Wars pulled in two hundred and forty-seven point eight million dollars in his first weekend and so far it's pulled in one point eight billion dollars worldwide and that was before last weekend not this weekend it was before last weekend so there's no telling how much money this movie is raking in now this morning I'm going to be starting a new sermon series on the subject of heaven and when our staff was brainstorming on how to promote this series we decided to go with the Star Wars theme for two reasons first of all Star Wars is so popular right now we thought it would be fun to jump on the bandwagon especially for our kids you might not know this but they're all getting little sabers or light sabers and so you're gonna have a lot of fun with them hitting their sister or their brother on the way home but anyways the second reason we decided to do that is because when you think of Star Wars do you think about our space or you think of the heavens so we thought it would be a great way to promote our series now if you came thinking that I was going to talk about the movie well I'm sorry to disappoint you because that's not gonna happen instead I'm gonna be talking about heaven what's it like where is it what will we do in heaven etc and I'm going to get pretty specific because the Bible has a lot to say about heaven contrary to what most people think you see most people including pastors believe that we can't possibly know what heaven will be like or imagine what God has prepared for us in fact I've actually heard pastors say that and then they usually quote first Corinthians chapter 2 verse number 9 as proof of that look with me if you would in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse number 9 if you're old-school turning your Bibles if your new school then just look on your phones or watch the screens notice what it says but as it is written eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him so what pastors conclude from this verse is that we can't even imagine what heaven is like or what God has prepared for us in the afterlife but you've got to keep reading because if you don't keep reading you're taking this verse out of context and you're actually distorting the meaning so this this time what I want to do is I want to read verse 9 but I also want to read the first part of verse number 10 so follow along with me as we read this in context this time notice what it says but as it is written eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him but that's a coordinating conjunction that means you can't separate these two verses because verse number 10 goes right along with verse number 9 what he's telling us is we've never seen what heaven is like we've never heard what heaven is like who can reveal it to us but God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit do you see that the Spirit has revealed unto us the things that God has prepared for us in heaven and how did it reveal it to us through his word the word of God in other words what we otherwise couldn't have could not have known about heaven because we've never seen it nor heard about it God says he's revealed those things to us through the spirit that means that God has explained to us what heaven is like in his word not exhaustively but enough for us to know the gist of what heaven is like where it is and what we're going to be doing now let me explain why it's important for us to learn about heaven in fact let me give you four reasons why it's important that we learn all that we can about heaven the first reason is so we won't have misconceptions about heaven it's sad but the truth is most Christians don't know anything about in fact what they think they know about heaven is actually false and let me give you a few examples to illustrate what I'm talking about most people think that heaven is ethereal how many of you know what ethereal means it's not a surreal it's ethereal well ethereal means lacking material substance in other words it's all spiritual and not physical so when people die and they go to heaven they're like ghosts they're disembodied spirits and all day long they're hanging out on the clouds that are kind of floating in the heavens and they're playing a harp that's heaven and that's wrong that's not what heaven is like and then you have others that think that heaven is going to be one long boring church service that for all eternity we're gonna all be gathered around the throne of God and all we're going to be doing is standing up and worshipping God and then falling to her face and we're gonna do that 24 hours a day seven days a week and wrong and then you have those that don't have any idea what heaven is going to be like but they can't imagine it being any better than what we have here on this earth so when I talk about Jesus coming back and the rapture taking place if you're a teenager you think I don't want Jesus to come back yet I haven't even had sex yet I least want to have sex before it comes back or if you're a college student and I talk about Jesus coming back and that's going to heaven you're probably thinking well I don't want Jesus to come back I have another marriage int I least want to get married maybe have some kids before Jesus comes back and maybe you're a little bit older and you're getting close to retirement and I talk about the rapture and us going to heaven and you think well I don't want Jesus to come back yet I haven't I haven't reached retirement me and the wife we're gonna go to Hawaii when I retire I at least want to go to Hawaii before Jesus comes back so in essence what everyone is saying is they don't know what heaven is like but it can't be better than sex marriage or Hawaii no wonder Christians aren't excited about going to heaven who wants to go somewhere that's ethereal it's all spiritual enough physical or go to a place where it's one long boring church service where all we do every day for all eternity is worship God or a place that's not as good or fun as where we are right now on this earth but the problem is in heaven the problem is we have all of these misconceptions about heaven because we don't know anything about it so that's the first reason we need to learn about heaven and so that we won't have all of these misconceptions about heaven listen to me heaven is not what you think it is let me say it again heaven is not what you think it is the second reason we're to learn about heaven is because God has commanded us to turn with me if you would the book of Colossians chapter 3 we're going to read verses 1 and 2 since you have been raised to new life with Christ set your sights now this is written in the imperative mood that means it's a command God is not suggesting that you set your sights on the realities of heaven he's commanding you to do that so let's keep reading since you've been raised to new life with Christ set your sights on the realities of heaven where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand think that word think is written in the imperative mood that means that God is not suggesting that you think God is commanding you to think about the things of heaven not the things of Earth so as Christians we're supposed to set our sights on the realities of heaven and were to think about the things of heaven now does everyone know what it means to set your sights on something yeah well it means to focus on something or in other words to make something the center point or the focal point of your life so what this verse is saying is that we're supposed to make heaven the focal point of our life and we're to constantly be thinking on the things of heaven and not the things of Earth but why why should heaven be the focal point of our life and why should we constantly be thinking about the things of heaven well I'll tell you what when we make heaven the focal point of her life and we think about the things of heaven more than we think about the things on this earth it changes our perspective our will and our priorities yeah you think when heaven becomes the focal point of my life and I'm constantly thinking about it it gives me an eternal perspective and that's what I need when things get tough I need to realize that what I'm going through is temporal but the way I respond to what I'm going through will have eternal consequences turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 16 through 18 and I'll show you what I'm talking about notice what it says that is why we never give up some of you guys are wimpy Christians your wusses and the reason I say that is you can't sew down and depressed you just kind of lose heart and you give up you quit coming to church you don't do what you're supposed to do and you know when I tribute that to that too I attribute it to the fact that probably you never played sports because when you play sports you learn to play with pain you learn to play even if you're not gonna win you playing you're like you're gonna win you don't stop until the game is over and as a result of that you learn certain life lessons on the field to play that you can actually come in and end-use on in life but you know there's so many people they get upset certain things happen in their life and they quit coming to church now let me just explain something to you we run between eight hundred a thousand people on a weekend so I know many times I don't see everyone who's coming and I don't see everyone who's not coming and so sometimes when people haven't been coming for six months and I see them in Walmart's I don't know they have been coming and I get this sheepish look on their face think pastor I'm sorry I haven't been coming things now usually I will Pat your hand say that's okay honey but let me tell you my real thought you wimp you wimp that is why we never give up that's what this verse says let's keep reading though our bodies are dying our spirits are being renewed every day you see our life or our physical body it keeps getting stronger until we actually hit about our peak at the age of 28 to 30 and then after about 30 years old I hate to say it but we're on a downward slope gravity starts making things go south if you know what I mean we started putting our way we start losing our hair even if you stay in shape and you look like Sylvester Stallone who's painted himself Brown did you see that but anyway he's all ripped and everything but you look at him you still know he's old so it's as though our bodies are dying our spiritual being renewed every day for our present troubles are small and will last very long in other words their temporal do you realize that in the grand scheme of eternity the troubles that we have are just a blip on the radar ship it pastor you don't know the troubles I have it doesn't matter what troubles you have it doesn't matter how bad it gets on this earth I want you to understand something in the grand scheme of eternity it's just a blip on the radar it's small and it won't last but a short time well pastor you don't realize I have cancer I'm here to tell you if you suffer with cancer for four years and you die I want you to understand something the scope of all eternity it's small I'm not trying to make it trivial but I want you to understand something in the scope of eternity it's small and it's not even a blip on the radar because we are going to live on forever and he's telling us though our bodies are dying our spirits are being renewed every day for our present troubles are small and they won't last very long their temporal yet they produce for us the glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever in other words if we respond right to the troubles that we're going through the to the suffering that we're experiencing it's gonna produce and it says here a glory but what it's really referring to our spiritual rewards we're gonna be rewarded for the way we respond to the troubles we have here on this earth to the suffering we have to endure and let me explain something to you those spiritual rewards will last forever and then he goes further so we don't look at the troubles that we can see now rather we fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen and what cannot be seen heaven and what's coming in the future and then he goes further for the things we see now will soon be gone but the things we cannot see will last forever so this changes my perspective it helps me to have an eternal perspective rather than a temporal perspective but it does something else when I make heaven the focal point of my life and when I think on the things of heaven it does something else it also makes me more determined to persevere in tough times turn to 2nd Peter chapter 3 verses 13 through 14 and I'll show you what I'm talking about says but we are looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth he has promised you see God has promised that after the Millennium and after the great white throne judgment this present earth in the heavens they're going to be consumed with fire and God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth those are the things that he has promised and says if we look forward to the new heavens and the new earth he is promised and then he goes further a world filled with God's righteousness in other words a world without sin at that point there's not going to be any more sin now you need to understand something even during the Millennium things are not going to be like it was at the time of eating now things are going to be robach it's going to be great during the Millennium but you also need to understand that there's going to be a rebellion at the end of the millennium but after the great white throne judgment after the Millennium God's going to create a new heaven and a new earth and I want you to understand something there will be no more sin it will be filled with God's righteousness now let's keep reading and so dear friends while you are awaiting for these things to happen make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight you see looking forward to heaven and seeing God's promises that promises fulfilled it's what motivates me to live the way that I'm supposed to and to persevere when things get tough plus it also helps me to keep my priorities right look with me if you would in the book of Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 and 20 and I'll show you what I'm talking about very familiar passage of Scripture notice what it says don't store up treasures here on this earth where moths eat eat them and rust destroys them and where thieves break in and steal store your treasures in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break in and steal now let me ask you a question how many of you are laying up treasures in heaven I'm not trying to ask you to be arrogant or to boast but I just want to know I'm gonna raise my hand how many of you are laying up treasures in heaven well if you're not I can tell you why it's because you think more about the things on this earth and you do about the things in heaven all you really think about is maybe that new car or maybe getting a raise or maybe getting a promotion at work or maybe putting in a swimming pool or maybe retiring or maybe buying that bass boat you say what you're really focused on are the things of this world the realities of heaven is not the focal point of your life you're not thinking on the things of heaven you're thinking on the things of this earth trust me your whole life would change if you made heaven the focal point of your life and you started thinking about the things of heaven rather than the things of this earth because number one it will give you an eternal perspective on life rather than a temporal perspective and number two it would motivate you to persevere when things get tough you stop giving up and staying out of church and feeling so sorry for yourself and number three it would help you to get your priorities straight and to keep your priorities straight but here's the thing that I want you to realize you can't focus on the realities of heaven if you don't know anything about heaven that's kind of a no-brainer isn't it you know God told us to make the things of heaven or the realities of heaven the focal point of our life but if we don't know anything about heaven we can't make the realities of heaven the focal point of our life and you can't think about the things of heaven if you don't know what the things that have an arm that's why God commands us to learn as much as we can about heaven the third reason we're supposed to learn about heaven it's because it will inspire us to live for God look at what Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 I love this says no dear brothers and sisters I have not achieved it but I focus on this one thing in other words he says there's one thing that I've made the focal point of my life that's what he means I focus on this one thing this is the focal point of my life now let's see if Paul stays consistent because we already found out that he told us that we're supposed to set our sights on the realities of heaven and we found out what that means is we're supposed to make the realities of heaven the focal point of our life now here he's writing in a different passage description he says this but I focus on this one thing in other words there is one thing that's the focal point of my life let's see what it is let's keep reading forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead I press on to reach the end of the race and to receive the heavenly price so what is the focal point of Paul's life the end of the race and receiving the heavenly prize now what's at the end of the race people heaven and what is the heavenly price spiritual rewards so the focal point of Paul's life is the end of the race it's heaven and the thing that he's really focusing on is the heavenly prize the spiritual rewards but that's what motivated Paul to live for God and if you ever grasp just how great heaven is and what's waiting for us when we get there you'll be just as motivated as Paul is about living for God you want to know why you're not excited about living for God you want to know why you settled into that being of being a complacent Christian it's because you're consumed with the things of this earth Christianity doesn't really apply to you except on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights or except when you think about well I might die and I think about the alternative so I've made Jesus Lord and really you haven't that but the reason you haven't done that is because this is the focal point of your life right here this earth you want to change and be like Paul then you make that one thing you focus on you make at the end of the race heaven and the heavenly price which are spiritual rewards the fourth reason it's important to learn as much as we can about heaven is because it take away our fear of death let's be honest most of you are terrified of death oh yeah but people is not supposed to be like that at least not for Christians who've lived alone full life you think when a Christian gets to their life they should be looking forward to going home to be with the Lord and if you don't believe that let me share with you a few scriptures and I want you to actually see what they're saying don't just read them as words on the paper I want you to see that God is writing this to you and I want you to see the attitude that Paul had but it's the same attitude we're supposed to have look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verses 6 & 8 so we are always confident even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not home with the Lord now let me tell you what that means as long as we are living here on this earth in these physical bodies we are not with the Lord yeah Jesus might be our Lord but I want you to understand something Jesus is now sitting at the right hand throne of God he is not here on this earth so as long as we are alive here on this earth and we're present in this body we are away from the Lord now let's keep reading yes we are fairly confident that we would rather be away from these earthly bodies for then we will be at home with the Lord in other words you know what he's saying we would rather be dead on this earth and away from our bodies so we could be with the Lord how many of you can actually say that I see a few hands that's the way it ought to be now we're gonna look at this dilemma that Paul posed because I'll be honest with you as Paul got to towards the end of his life and when we think in the life we usually think upper-70s maybe upper 80s maybe early 90s Paul was probably around 60 to 62 when he wrote the book of Philippians and I want to show you what he wrote in the book of Philippians look in Philippians chapter 1 verses 21 through 23 this really means something to me because I'm gonna turn 56 this summer and Paul was probably 62 by 6 years older 7 years older than what I'm gonna be at this summer when he wrote Philippians notice what he wrote for to me living means living for Christ why because the focal point of his life was the realities of heaven and he continually thought about the things of heaven as a result of that for him living meant living for Christ but then he goes farther he says and dying is even better can you believe that Paul actually wrote that dying is better than living maybe he needs to go see a psychiatrist let's keep reading but if I live I can do more fruitful work for Christ so I really don't know what is better for I'm torn between two desires I long to go and be with Christ which would be far better for me and then I didn't put this here but if you read on he says but I also know that if I stayed that it's better for you and you know I understand that let me tell you something I don't want to die and the reason I don't want to die is because I want to take care of my wife and my daughters I want to be able to walk my youngest daughter down the aisle I want to be there and give her away I want to be a grandparent to my children to a grandparent to my children's children to my grandchildren I want them to experience that but I want you to understand something when I get towards the end of my life and I'm no longer a blessing to my wife and I'm more of a burden and when I'm a burden to my children I want you to understand something dying for me will be better I'll be wanting to go home but the sad part is I rarely see that now finally I want you to look at Revelation chapter 14 verse number 13 I want you to notice what John wrote this is the book of Revelation the end of book is something that talks about the of the aegis you know it's that seven-year tribulation period where there's three purposes for that remember the three purposes number one to put it into sin and wickedness number two to have worldwide revival and number three to bring the nation of Israel as a whole to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ that's the purpose of the tribulation but at the end of this tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon takes place Jesus Christ is going to return he's going to set up his kingdom on earth but the book of Revelation is explaining all of this but I want you to notice what it says this is verse 13 chapter 14 says and I heard a voice from heaven saying write this down I don't see any pins coming out don't see anyone typing what's it say here write this down now obviously he's talking to John and John wrote it all down but I want you to see he's telling us write this down this should be written down and put on your mirror this should be written down and put on your refrigerator this should be written down when you open up your tackle box when you're fishing this should be written down when you get in your car notice what it says blessed are those who die in the Lord and from now on blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on yes says the spirit they are blessed indeed so they will rest from their hard work for their good deeds follow them you know my aunt Maxine just passed away four weeks ago I can probably count on both hands since I've become a pastor when I've been able to take a full week two weeks of vacation at Christmas without someone dying me having to do the funeral now I don't resent that yet Maxine was my favorite aunt had lots of aunts on my mom's side there was and ever rose there was uncle James there was Aunt Bea there's aunt dot there was aunt Maxine there was aunt Frank and my momma was the baby she was the best I kept the best for last but that bet but at Maxine was my favorite aunt she was big and strong and you know my mom's not doing very well and I've told you that before I'm ready for her to go home and be with the Lord well I miss her you bet I'll miss her but I know that I'm gonna see her I know it would be better for her but my man aunt Maxine has always been strong when she's 83 or was 83 years old and I watched just this summer she came up to see my mom because my mom wasn't doing good and she drove all the way up from Florida and her dually pickup truck she gets out of that truck and I'm telling you looking at her and she was a big strong woman but she found out two weeks before she died that she had lung cancer there's nothing they could do about it and they told her you have two weeks to live and she had two weeks to live so after a week since I told her that I went up to see my aunt Maxine and I said Maxine are you ready and she said Allen actually she called me al al I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I know where I'm gonna be going and I said that makes me feel so good at Maxine I said can you tell me what you'd like me to preach at your funeral and she said I don't like to think about it I don't want to talk about it I said you don't want to know no I don't like to think about death and I don't want to talk about it and my heart just broke cuz I thought here's a woman that's 83 years old that knows Jesus and she's terrified of dying she doesn't want to think about it she doesn't want to talk about it and it's so sad because if she knew what heaven was like she'd be laying on that bed and she would be saying out I can't wait I'm gonna see my mom I'm gonna see my dad I'm gonna see all my sisters that's gone before me and my brother I'm gonna see my husband and she's be able to talk with me about the realities of heaven but she doesn't know what sad is I continually go to the hostel it´ll and i go to the person's deathbed and i'm talking to them and i can see it in their eyes they're scared of dying and i don't understand that but then i realize this because i don't know anything about heaven and if you don't know anything about heaven how could you make the realities of having the focal point of your life how can you think on the things of heaven if you don't know about the things of heaven so let me tell you what I'm gonna do in this series I'm going to explain what heaven is what heaven is like and what we're going to be doing in heaven next week is going to be probably the roughest sermon it's the hardest one for me to deliver because heaven is not what you think and when we die right now we go to heaven I want you to understand it's not permanent heaven that we go to it's an intermediate heaven and most people don't know that but even that intermediate heaven let me tell you it's fantastic but God and this is his mode of operation God does things in stages or steps and in God's motive operation when he does things in stages or steps it gets better each time and so when we die and we go to what is known as that intermediate heaven it's great and then the next place is better until we get to permanent heaven and when we get to permanent heaven let me tell you it's fantastic and most of you are thinking what do you mean stages what do you mean intermediate heaven and your thing at who that doesn't sound right let me tell you why it doesn't it's because you know nothing about heaven but we're gonna go through God's Word and I'm gonna show you

Channel: Cornerstone Fellowship

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Keywords: what does the bible say about heaven, heaven in the bible, heaven bible study, answers about heaven, heaven description, What Will Heaven Be Like According to the Bible (Part 3) with Pastor Allen Nolan, what will heaven be like according to the bible, what will heaven be like, what is heaven like according to the bible, the book of revelation explained, the book of revelation explained bible study, the book of revelation in the bible summary, revelation, rapture, tribulation, heaven

Id: eIWNii7tVfk

Length: 30min 18sec (1818 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 10 2018