Heaven | Robert Jeffress | Joni Table Talk | Joni Lamb

real friends loving laughing and learning together share these stories one life at a time so grab a seat welcome to Joanie Table Talk well as Christians we all look forward to the day we'll meet our Savior face to face but how much do we actually know about heaven what exactly will we do there and how should we prepare for eternity well today we are going to answer those questions and more but first joining me around the table is my dear friend April Simons how are you I'm doing great your daddy the late John Osteen is in heaven he's in heaven I miss him is that one of the hopes that you have yes that you'll see me definitely want it I wish she was here but I'll see him again one day sure Dorothy Newton how are you I'm doing great is heaven looking sweeter all the time Jodie lamb how are you I don't think you have first on this program that you own all right well we know when she's great thank you you know we've been friends for over 30 years and every day that God gives us I mean you do start thinking and having it maybe a little bit more of an eternal perspective I do do you I absolutely do and when I was reading the book of our guests that's here today I realized how important it is that we convey the message to people that our life here on earth is so important to where we are spending eternity so yeah I hope we can talk about that we're so glad that dr. Robert Jeffress is here at the table well thank you for having me so good to have you dr. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas he's the best-selling author and a Fox News contributor and today he's here to share some surprising truths about eternity from his book a place called heaven this would make such a great gift yeah so why did you write this book well I wrote it for two reasons first of all to give people hope you know with everything happening in the world whether it's international conflict mass shootings all the political chaos people need hope that there is a better world and this book is a great reminder that there is a better place it's that place called heaven but I also wrote it to help people get ready for heaven you know I tell our viewers if you knew that the company you or your spouse worked for was going to transfer you in six months to a foreign location like Paris France or London England and you didn't know anything about that foreign country you'd spend the next six months learning everything you could about that new country and making preparation for your move well the Bible says if we're Christians we all are going to be transferred one day to that place called heaven it only makes sense we want to learn everything we can about our future home and start making preparation now for the move you know heaven is a place for everyone watching and you know that simple scripture John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him will not perish but have everlasting life that's a promise to all of us that know Jesus that's the first step but really there's so much more in that how we live our life with what God has entrusted to us on this earth before we get to heaven why is that important and didn't we talk about that in the book I do Joanie I built the book a place called heaven around the 10 most frequently asked questions that people have about heaven I've been a pastor for more than 40 years and I've had people bombard me with questions and so I've taken the top 10 questions to answer that not from my imagination but from God's Word but you know one of the questions that I talk about in the book is what can I do to prepare for my journey to heaven and I know where we'll talk about the importance of knowing Christ as your Savior that's foundational but that's not the only thing we can do here's the paradox about heaven our life here on earth is so brief an eternity is forever and yet what we do on earth these few years affects the kind of heaven that we're going to experience I say in the book what we do on earth reverberates in the halls of heaven forever and that's why it's important not to take this life for granted and as Moses said in Psalm 90 Lord teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are so that we can spend them as we should as often we live life unto ourselves and we we lose perspective of the eternal perspective of life and I think sometimes we might even forget that the Bible says he that winneth Souls is wise yes and that everybody would come in contact with whether it's at the store or wherever we might be or our family they're gonna spend eternity somewhere and that's one of the myths people have about heaven that I dress in the book and it's the idea that heaven is going to be the same for everybody it's not the Bible talks about rewards in heaven and the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 5 for we talking about Christians must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that we may be rewarded for what we've done in the body whether it's good or worthless and you know Heaven's not going to be you know a sanctified kind of socialism where everybody gets the same thing the same plot of land the same mansion what we do here on earth is going to determine the kind of rewards we experience in heaven which is why we need to be preparing for that to happen and I liked what mom and Cindy were saying that you know we only have one life to live and it is like the Bible says it's a vapor and Paul even says that the time is evil or the days are evil because they're short he knew he only had so much time to share the gospel and even understand the weight of eternity and how even though it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day things of life and the age that we live in it's so easy to be distracted there is an eternal stage we're about to step into but one of the things I liked that you said is you talked about how not everyone's called to the same kind of life because someone could think well I'm not going to be Billy Graham so what would you say to that person well you know the basis for our judgement how God's gonna judge us it's gonna be a very individualized judgment and by the way this is not a judgment of condemnation as Christians we never have to fear God and nation romans 8:1 says there is therefore now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus but that doesn't mean we escape God's evaluation of our lives and those our lives are going to be evaluated first Corinthians 3 says on the basis of whether what we have done is gold silver or precious stones or wood hay and stubble that's absolutely worthless and I think to go to your question God's going to judge us according to those opportunities he's going to he has given us I'm not gonna be judged the same way Billy Graham has God's not gonna say were you faithful when you spoke to hundreds of thousands of people in a stadium I haven't had those opportunities God's given me different opportunities so it's gonna be a very personalized judgment have I been faithful to use what God has entrusted to me to advance this case so the works the gift the talents everything we do here on earth I mean we will be doing the same thing in heaven that is a great point and and it gets to the point that I believe that in heaven our work in heaven and there is going to be work in heaven we're not going to be floating around on a cloud plucking harp frankly I think that's one reason some of our audience right now may not be that excited about going to heaven they think it's gonna be perpetual boredom yeah they think it's gonna be one unending church service and while it is true we're gonna worship in heaven like we've never worship before we're gonna do more than that we are gonna work in heaven God's gonna have an assignment for us and I wouldn't be surprised if our work in heaven doesn't mirror what we've done here on earth I don't think the gifts and interest God has given to us or just for the few years we have here on earth why wouldn't God want us to do those and use those gifts for all eternity you know my wife I think about Amy she said to me recently she said you know there's so many things I would still like to do but I'm you know taking care of our family and for our coming grandchildren right now and making all that I said honey there's no reason to think you won't get to do those things in heaven a lot of ladies watching the program right now evidently I can you know one of the things I was thinking about as we were sitting here was I just recently sprained my ankle really bad and in the moment right after I hurt myself the pain was really bad it's been a month or so and it's crazy once you're through pain you forget about it you know you don't even remember how bad it was and I think about that Bible verse that says Hall says our present sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that's in store and so that's what heaven there's gonna be no pain there and so even for people who are going through painful times now when we're in heaven we're not even gonna remember well you know that is such a great point because it really speaks to why should we even be talking about heaven right now and one of the values of being heavenly minded is it puts our suffering in perspective no the Bible never denies the reality of suffering here on earth it adds the word temporary and Paul said our temporary light afflictions you think about it Paul your afflictions weren't why you were stoned three times you were then shipwrecked all of those things but he said compared to heaven they're light afflictions somebody said one time from the perspective of heaven are worth suffering on earth will be seen to be nothing more than a one-night stay in a bad motel and that's how we're gonna look at it one day as we look back on her suffering what about you know I think all of us here have loved ones in heaven do they know what's going on can they say great question in fact it's one of the 10 that I answer do people in heaven know what is happening on earth and the short answer is yes if you believe the Bible you know revelation 6 talks about during the Great Tribulation the tribulation Saints in heaven are looking down on earth saying Lord how long will you allow this to continue jesus talked in Luke 16 about the rich man who died in with the Hades and Lazarus who went to heaven they were both aware of what was happening does that mean that the grandma Emma can watch everything we're doing you know I think there is a general awareness I think there are glimpses God made by all the great cloud of witnesses the Bible talks about as well the one thing that keeps coming to me as I'm sitting here I think it's so important for you to understand those of you that are watching right now is that word surrender is reverberating in my mind it's like dr. Jeffers said the first step that you make is receiving Christ into your heart and life and forgiving you of your sins he did the hard part on Calvary all you have to do is receive you know that forgiveness but beyond that that word surrender means so much because God has uniquely gifted you with gifts and talents and there's something that happens when we say okay god I'm going to surrender everything to you what do you have planned for my life and how can you use me whether it's to be an attorney a teacher a mother a counselor a preacher a teacher I mean but it's just being obedient to what God has called you to do and in really connecting to the one who crew who has created us for this season that's right that's exactly right you know I was just sitting here as you were talking I was think about my mom who's in heaven right now she died when she was 54 of colon cancer and before she died a few weeks she wrote a letter to me and to my brother and sister and just some of her final wishes and she said you know I'm gonna see you again one day very soon in heaven please bring with you everyone who will come and you know we're so great you know that's what we're charge we're doing to bring as many people with us as we can yeah and that's one reason I wrote this book not only to inform Christians about heaven but to use it as a tool people are hungry for him and non-christians are hungry for heaven God has placed eternity in our hearts and the best thing that we can do is to show people how to get to heaven you know people ask me all the time as a pastor Robert are Catholics going to be in heaven or is going to be in heaven or Baptist going to be in heaven and I always say nobody goes to heaven in a group we go one by one based on our relationship with God the only people who go to heaven are forgiven people and Jesus has provided not just one way but the only way for us to have forgiveness and that should do faith in Him you know and I always say the onus isn't on us to prove who God is if you have a sincere heart today and you're watching and you sincerely say okay god I don't know about what these people are talking about or even if I really believe it but I'm willing to pray this little simple prayer Lord if you're if you're real will you reveal yourself to me and I've seen him do it time and time again if someone sincerely prays and ask the Lord to show them to speak to them to send people across their path to reveal truth he's able to do that it means that's what makes him God whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved God made it so simple even a child can understand how to do it I love that what are some of the other misconceptions about heaven I know I was talking to you earlier that I've interviewed people for over 30 years and people I've interviewed people who've died like 10 15 20 minutes and went to heaven and came back the thing that they always told me everyone they always said I didn't want to come back because once you ever experience in heaven you don't want to leave the presence of God which is so immediate there so but what are some of the other misconceptions we've talked about the idea that heaven is boring we know that's not going to be true because God isn't boring we we've exploded the myth that heavens gonna be the same for everybody it's not but here's a myth that most people don't even think about but a lot of people have and it's the idea that when we die we become somebody else in heaven no when we die it's not somebody else who goes to heaven it's we who are in heaven we retain our individual personalities did you know we're even gonna have our same names in heaven the Bible says God may give us an additional but it's we who are in heaven when Moses and Elijah came back on the Mount of Transfiguration to meet Jesus it wasn't Bert and Ernie who came back it was Moses and Elijah we retain our personalities in heaven even our body characteristics that make us unique we retained we don't become uniform people that can't be recognized the Bible says Jesus disciples recognized him even in his new resurrection body maybe we're gonna know one another in heaven which means our relationships continued in heaven our relationships are going to be in some ways far superior than they were here on earth because they won't be tainted with sin we know we're not gonna be married in heaven but that doesn't mean we don't have a relationship with our mates in heaven just think what it would be like to be with your mate and to be able to look back on all of your past experiences the good the bad the horrible and see how God used all of them to bring you to that present moment that's gonna be a great thing in heaven for sure so good here's a random question there are animals go to heaven and some people frankly are more upset if their pets aren't gonna be in heaven than if they're not going to be married in heaven remember ultimately as I point out in my book a place called heaven our final existence isn't gonna be up there someplace it's gonna be right here on this earth in the recreated earth John said I saw a new heaven and a new earth the New Jerusalem came down out of heaven here on earth so the question is will there be animals in the new earth of course there will be it's gonna be the identic it's gonna be like the Garden of Eden without the sin in it so I think they're gonna be animals are they gonna be our animals probably not in Ecclesiastes Solomon made it clear that the difference between animals and humans is animals don't have a spirit they don't have an eternal spirit so there are gonna be animals here it may not be our animals right but God you know knows the desires of our heart and I believe those desire we'll be fulfilled in heaven until you this is kind of funny one of the things I want to do is that I believe there will be an ocean with all the sea life and I want to be able to go to the depths of the ocean swim and also be able to fly over the earth and things like that who knows there won't be any danger right but I think that heaven is gonna be so much more than what we can possibly imagine what is it about heaven that draws you to it makes you long for it as you even as you get older well as I get older I mean certainly the experience have seen the Lord Jesus who gave His life for us and seeing him is at the top of the list but close to it has to be seeing our loved ones in heaven you know the older I get the older we all get we have more and more people who've already transferred to heaven and I think about what Paul said in first Thessalonians and talking about the rapture we shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and the great thing about that family reunion in heaven is it's going to be complete all of our loved ones who know Christ are going to be there but it's also gonna be forever we're gonna be caught up together no more death no more separation Norman no more tears so of course seeing our loved ones I think that's something that we all think about my grandfather is such a incredible impact on my life spiritually I think about I get to see him of course we want to see Jesus but out of all the Bible characters who is it that you'd like to sit down and talk to you for a while oh I have I think hands down it's the Apostle Paul I knew you were gonna say yes and why is that because of his courage yeah when you look through what he went through you know many of us have been outside Rome where he was beheaded and in before he was beheaded he said you know I have thought the good fight I have kept the faith I had finished the course and there's light up for me in heaven a crown which the Lord Jesus will award to me I think he's a model of what it means to be courageous in the proclamation of the gospel I love that what about you guys what what Bible characters I'd like to see Esther Esther brave chick I just read it but she was I just read through that book I love that story kind of cool to me yeah she is I'd like to save donation story yeah I have to say Paul I mean Paul models to be the lifestyle that so many of us live in things that we go through it's just so practical okay Becca well I want to see Jesus the most yeah that's your the most excited to see but besides I probably David yeah you'd be great I'm thinking my favorite Bible characters Joseph so I would love to hear his story and all the things he went from being thrown in the pit to becoming the second in command over Egypt who his brothers coming to see him that day and them not recognizing him and him making the choice to forgive them such a great great great story what about you I'm with Rebecca and David and I think because we know throughout the Scriptures he was a man after God's own heart and God saw him as a friend and I think I'd like to hear what David had to say about himself in his relationship with God that made ya so special you know I I do this a lot of times on this program and I really feel like we need to do it right now because there are some of you that you aren't ready for heaven and you want to be ready for heaven I wonder pastor if you would just lead us in a sinner's prayer for those who are watching right now we're gonna repeat after you and let's give people an invitation to be ready for heaven because there's there's not a more important decision than you can make right now and that's right and if you aren't absolutely sure that when you die not if you die but when you die you're gonna be welcomed into heaven listen eternity is too long to be wrong about this this is an issue you must settle right now I don't think it's an accident you tuned into the broadcast today God has brought you to this point so that you can receive his gift of forgiveness so that you can enter into heaven and if you want to be sure if you want to receive God's gift of forgiveness right now would you join us as we pray this prayer together knowing that you're talking to God let's pray together right now dear God thank you for loving me I know that I have failed you I know that I have failed you in so many ways so many ways and I'm truly sorry about my sin and I'm truly sorry but I believe I believe you sent Jesus you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and right now right now I'm trusting in Jesus I'm trusting in Jesus and what he did for me and what he did for me to save me for my sins save me for my sins thank you for forgiving me thank you for forgiving and help me to live and help me to live the rest of my life the rest of my life for you for you in Jesus name in Jesus name Amen if you prayed that prayer you did what the Bible says you must do to have eternal life you know there's a toll-free number that's on the screen there's something important about sharing yes with others what God has done for you there's something about saying hey you know what I prayed that prayer and so that's why that number is on the screen there's prayer partners standing by ready to pray with you encourage you you don't have to put your name on the mailing list your address or anything there's something about sharing it and we also want to send you this little book entitled now what and I thought it's in English and in Spanish and it just tells you what to do now that you have accepted Christ so don't be afraid to tell someone what God has done for you I'm so excited that you are going to experience heaven okay so who needs to get the book a place called heaven well anybody who's interested in what God has prepared for them but also I would say to be a great book for people who want to share their faith in a non-threatening way with somebody else we're all surrounded by people we want to see in heaven one day we don't know exactly how to get them there maybe we don't feel like we know how to share our faith you can share a book like this with them and know that they'll be interested in it and you know I just have to say this what I've written here is straight from the Bible I believe but it's only a sketch of what heaven is really going to be like my wife and I went to see a play recently a sound this sound of music we saw the play and Maria came out and she was frolicking in front of this scrim that had the Alps painted on it and I started laughing out loud because I had just been to the Alps a few weeks earlier where the movie was actually filmed and that was nothing like the real apps look like it was only a sketch I thought you know that's the way about heaven we only have an outline a sketch of what it really is gonna be like it's far beyond what we could ever imagine and so I hope people will pick up a copy of a place called heaven knowing that the real heaven is even far more than we could ever hope for don't you think if we were more excited about eternity in heaven that more people would want to go if we were excited about a place when you were good to spend eternity because of what their alternative is and so I was thinking as you were talking Wow if we saw a house on fire and we knew there were people in it we would give our life to snatch them out of the fire well that's right and you know Jesus talk more about Hell than he did heaven and that's why the alternative is horrible and if we really believe what Jesus did would be doing everything we could to rescue Pete in the Bible tells us that hell was never constructed for us it's only enlarged itself because of men that reject that's right God and why would anybody reject a free gift such right of salvation what would you say Becca to the Millennials who are watching who maybe haven't made a decision as to whether they believe Jesus is the way or not well I would say Jesus is real and that as for me personally I can say for my own word that six years ago when I gave my life to Jesus to this day he has proven himself faithful and good and I've only grown into a greater love for him and a greater trust in him as he's shown his faithfulness to me and the best thing that you could do with your life is to completely surrender it to God not only is your life gonna be so much better here on earth but your life will actually make an impact that will reverberate into eternity you don't stand before God and look at your life and see it as a total waste you know and the thing is you don't want to miss on what God has for you in this lifetime there are many of you there watching that are Christians but you've just been doing your own thing for so long I want to encourage you no matter what age you are that to just pray that surrender prayer say you know what God I'm open if there's something else you want me to do before I reach eternity I want to tell you it's the most fulfilling thing in all the world to live a surrendered life and not even knowing what God is placed on the inside of you you would have never dreamed or imagined that God would have done all that he's done in your life would you have not surrendered never never and God's plan is so good it's beyond our comprehension but as you said the first step is surrender amen amen well we are out of time I want to thank pastor Robert Jeffress for joining us at the table make sure you pick up a copy of his book a place called heaven it's available now and for more you can visit him online at P tv.org again if you're watching today and you aren't sure where you're gonna spend eternity well I want to invite you to call that number on the screen invite Jesus into your heart into your life you can do that right now so many of you prayed the prayer with us be sure to call and let us know that you prayed that prayer again that's why we pay for that toll-free number again you don't have to leave any information we're not going to solicit you for anything we just want to make sure that you can move on into what God has for you and kind of what the next steps are you can also submit your request online by going today Starcom click on prayer we pray over prayer requests from all over the world here at Daystar every day because every prayer request is important to us also don't forget to join the conversation by leaving us a comment on Facebook or Twitter we'd love to hear your thoughts about the program thank you so much for watching thank you dr. Robert Jeffress I know you're so busy we're praying for you thank your God to give you continued wisdom as you go even into the secular arena and we love you very much thank you for being here today great to be with you hope you'll have me back so absolutely thank you so much we love you mwah bye bye for today this has been a day star television production you

Channel: The Way Of Life Church

Views: 20,680

Rating: 4.9000001 out of 5

Keywords: the way of life church, groeschel, lifechurch, life.churchtv, church, god's word, sermon, Christian, bible, God, Joni Table Talk, Joni Lamb, Robert Jeffress, Heaven

Id: HqtyE85q2QE

Length: 28min 6sec (1686 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 14 2018