What Heaven will be Like

terrorist attack the option there they responded to the times ladies and gentlemen whether you like it or not rate of hiv/aids west capital is higher than any other footage of Miyagi as it tsunami in essence the Berlin Wall doesn't mean anything anymore Gorbachev tear my crimson plant let's go to the starving in Somalia already knew it it's difficult to imagine this precise how this thing will manifest itself no one had expected that something like this was all right well we are going through revelation together right so let's turn to Revelation chapter 4 Revelation chapter 4 and the title of my message is what heaven will be like the story is told of Billy Graham who is holding a crusade in a city early in his ministry and a Billy wrote a letter and wanted to mail it but didn't know where the local post office was so he was downtown walking around and saw a young man standing on a corner knee walked up to him and said excuse me could you tell me where the post office is I'm going to send a letter the young guy said sure it's right over there and directed Billy in the right direction and Billy thought this might be an opportunity to invite him to the crusade he was there in town to hold he said to the young man come to the stadium tonight and I'll tell you how you can get to heaven that was a Billy Graham invitation there and the young man looked at him and said how would you know how to get to heaven you don't even know the way to the post office you know one day perhaps sooner than we had originally planned we're going to be in heaven now my words and I'm going to share with you are for Christians only if you're not a Christian it doesn't apply to you heaven is not the default destination of every person only the man or woman who has put their faith in Christ but as believers we have the hope of heaven and we're going to get there one way or another it's going to happen either through death or through the rapture and I want to talk about that second option in this message as we look at Revelation chapter 4 because that is really the opening idea that is introduced to us by John in this chapter as I've said before I believe the next event in the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church and I'm going to define that for you and a few moments in some detail following that would be the emergence of the Antichrist the great tribulation period and all that is to follow culminating and the second coming of Christ so as we come to chapter 4 we see the church being caught up to meet the Lord in the air interesting lean we closed chapter 3 of Revelation with a closed door and we start revelation 4 with an open door revelation 3 has a door that is closed to Jesus and self raised on the outside trying to get in in Revelation 4 we have a door that is open to heaven so if we open the door to our hearts he will open to us one day the door to heaven this is a major shift in the book of Revelation chapters 4 and 5 are the introduction and background to the tremendous sweep of prophetic events predicted in the rest of the book this is a third section of Revelation and it is worth noting that the church is nowhere to be found from revelation 4 to 19 so let's read a few verses and we're going to read a few more in a moment let's just read verses 1 and 2 of Revelation 4 after these things John wrote I looked at me holding door standing open and heaven in the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and I will show you things that must take place after this immediately John writes I was in this spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne verse 1 he says after these things those are from the Greek words met at Alta and the book of Revelation is unique in that it comes with its own outline that we already looked at earlier revelation 119 gives us the three divisions of the book of Revelation it says write the things that you have seen the things which are and the things that will take place after this we're now in section 3 the things that will take place after this melted alta so first we have the things that we have seen that primarily is revelation one which is a revelation of the glorified Lord who has all power in heaven and on earth the revealed Jesus who was in complete control of all that is about to happen the things which are that section number two that is what we have been looking at together in Revelation chapters two to three as we have looked at the message of Jesus to the seven churches there ranging from Ephesus and ending with Laodicea now we're in section 3 the things that will take place after these things what are these things the things of the church so that's what we're looking at now notice that John says that he heard a trumpet speaking with him and that reminds us of a statement of Paul of 1st Thessalonians 4 when describing the rapture he says the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout with a voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first now we hear the word rapture and I think most of us here know what it is but there might be some who have no idea what I'm talking about so let me take a few moments to explain this event called the rapture first of all what is the rapture one of the best definitions I found was given by my friend Mark Hitchcock in his book could the rapture happen today here's his definition of the rapture quote the rapture of the church is that future event when Jesus Christ will descend from heaven to resurrect the bodies of departed believers and a transform and translate the bodies of living believers immediately into his glorious presence in a moment of time and then escort them to heaven to live with him forever end quote so you might ask well wait a second why isn't the rapture in the Bible that will be one of the criticisms of it people will say well you don't find rapture in the Bible well that's not really true now you might be technically true in saying you can't find the word rapture in the Bible but that all depends on what kind of a Bible you have if you have a Latin translation you would have the word wrap tourist where we get our English word rapture from but the word raptorettes comes from the Greek word harpazo and that is the word that is used many times in Scripture to define the rapture or the removal of the church from the earth I mean to the point you could just as well argue that you don't find the word Trinity in the Bible oh you can't see you believe in the Trinity that word Trinity's on in the Bible but is the teaching of the Trinity in the Bible well of course it is and then to make the point again you could say the word Bible is not in the Bible so oh well you can't say Bible because Bible is not well the Word of God you know I mean so clearly just because the word that is in common usages and there doesn't mean the event is not there and indeed it is and the foundational scripture that already alluded to and I'll keep reading is personal Thessalonians 4 it says that those which are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and that is the word harpazo and thus we will always be with the Lord this word harpazo to be caught up is use 13 times in the New Testament what does it mean it means to take forcibly to snatch or to catch up to grab something and pull it quickly rapidly so that's what the rapture is why is there a rapture well the context of Paul statement there 1st Thessalonians 4 is he is responding to the concerns of the believers he wanted to come there hysteria and bring perspective to them you see they were worried about loved ones had already died and as they believed that Christ could come back they thought well what about our loved ones what will happen to them if the rapture happens if they've already died Paul is addressing this and he precedes that statement of first Thessalonians 4:17 of verse 13 with these words we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who have died so you will not grieve as those that have no hope I find that interesting he says we don't want you to be uninformed let's bring some clarity and why is that important because some people will say well you know I don't want to study the rapture I don't want to talk about the end times it you know it confuses me really well God wants you to be informed about it because knowing what these events mean will have an impact on your life so for the person that says they don't know want to want to know about Bible prophecy is a person that's going to be uninformed and also as we pointed out a few times there is a special blessing attached to the person who hears and keeps the words of this book so if you want the blessing if you want to be informed you should know about Bible prophecy so Paul is saying look I know you guys are concerned about this I don't want you to be uninformed and then later on in verse 18 he says therefore comfort one another with these words so here's what he's saying look you're going to see your loved ones again your loved ones are in heaven now but when the rapture happens there's going to be a bodily resurrection for them and you're going to be reunited with them again now that may be of great interest to you and it may not be of great interest to you but I think if you've lost a loved one it really matters and if you have someone that was very close to you in heaven right now you are extremely interested in what is happening with them what they're doing what they're experiencing and if you'll ever see them again so imagine this dear grieving friends you could be going about your business one day when suddenly in a moment in the twinkling of an eye you are reunited with your loved ones again that's what the rapture is all about you'll be with them so fast you couldn't even measure it in time this is the hope that's why Paul says therefore comfort one another with these words so go ahead and think about it and dream about it and look forward to it as he as Lewis said and I quote a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking but one of the things that Christian is meant to do end quote so it's a good thing to think about the imminent return of Christ it's a good thing to think about heaven it's a good thing to look forward to this event not if it makes you irresponsible but one that motivates you to live a godly life now is this event spoken of elsewhere in Scripture the rapture the answer is absolutely Jesus himself spoke of it a couple of times and John 14 say that my father's house are many mansions and where we're not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself take you by force and where I am you will be also then in Matthew 28 it's usually 24 Jesus said two men will be in the field one will be taken in the other left two men will be our two women will be grinding in the hand mill one will be taken in the other left therefore watch because you don't know what hour your Lord is coming the Apostle John spoke of it in first John 3:2 dear friends now we're the children of God and what we will be has not yet been known but we know that when he appears we will be like him but we will see him as he is and everyone that has this hope purifies himself even as he is pure then Paul again speaks of it in first Corinthians 15 when he says behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet but the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed so many times the Bible refers to the rapture but some might say well there's no prototype in Scripture there's no example in Scripture if anyone ever been caught up to heaven oh really actually there's a number how about Enoch he was the first guy in the book of Genesis he was caught up or raptured if you will to heaven Hebrews 11:5 it says by faith Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying suddenly he disappeared because God took him because he was taken up as he was approved as being pleasing to God then we're told in Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked with God and was not for God took up so it would appear that Enoch and the Lord would take walks together and I guess one day the Lord and Enoch were out strolling around and the Lord said you know what buddy we're closer to my house than we are to yours once you come on home with me so Enoch started his walk on earth and he ended his walk in heaven so he is clearly a prototype of a man that was just caught up in the heaven number two there's Elijah the Prophet who was caught up suddenly to heaven his miracle ministry had come to a close he was walking with Elijah who was going to carry on his ministry and second Kings 2 tells us that as they were walking together suddenly Elijah said look master there was a chariot of fire and suddenly Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven so he was caught up to meet the Lord he never died they looked for his body for a while they never found it because his body was on an earth it was in heaven so that's the Old Testament now are there any examples in the New Testament of someone being caught up into heaven well yes or are here's sort of an interesting one he wasn't caught up to heaven but he was moved from A to B rather quickly it was Stila remember Philip shared the gospel in Acts chapter 8 whether man from Ethiopia and the men believed in Philip baptized him another interesting passage ax8 39 when they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away the eunuch never saw him again and he went on his way rejoicing meanwhile Philip found himself further north of the city of Azotus he preached the good news there and in every city until he came to Caesarea the word that is used here to describe Philippine Conaway is again the Greek word harpazo so Philip was ruptured sideways not up but from one place to another and by the way that place as it is mentioned here it's 30 miles away that would be a great way to get to Orange County for our service I just finished speaking and Fuu might show up there and hey everybody how's it going you know it but this is a really interesting little story now Jesus Christ himself was effectively raptured to heaven after he finished his public ministry and he gave the Great Commission to his disciples you remember that he ascended to heaven acts 1:9 says after he said this he was taken up into the sky and by the word that word taken up is harpazo taken up into the sky while they were watching and he disappeared into a cloud and they were staring looking up into angels should have been said men of Galilee why are you standing there staring at the sky Jesus who has been taken away from you in heaven well one day come back again so that's a little more in the rapture now here's the big question when is the rapture when is a rapture if you don't hear anything else I say hear this I'm going to reveal the answer when is a rapture I don't know and by the way no one knows to be biblical Jesus speaking no one knows the day or the hour that means no one knows the day or the hour now this fella came along recently what was his name Harold Camping that got a lot of traction out of his predictions of the date of the Lord's return he gave a date Jesus didn't come he gave another date Jesus didn't come finally he admitted I was wrong yeah exactly I could have told you the first date and then years before he had predicted it on another occasion but yet there are always people who will rally around a statement like that and of course some will use it as an opportunity to mock Christians so look I don't know if this man's a Christian or if the people who believed in our Christian or not all I know is the Bible says no one knows the day or the hour date setting is never acceptable but let's broaden that a little bit when is the rapture here's another answer any time it can happen in any time in a moment of time that's not even measurable I already quoted 1st Corinthians 15 we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet the trumpet will sound the dead will be raised incorruptible will be changed now that word change comes from the Greek word Atomos from which we get our word Adam it means something that cannot be divided in other words a rapture will happen so quickly and suddenly at the timeframe in which it appears cannot be humanly divided ok so it's not like we're just sitting in your office and oh I think we're getting raptured are we and we're sort of you know three feet up no no it's just like there's no way to measure it it's just like even faster than that we're just crushed and I think it would be more dramatic than that lousy sound effect correct not good boom you're in heaven boom there's your loved ones that have gone before you boom there's a Lord Jesus Christ that's how fast that's going to happen now when Christ returns writes in the rapture first up is the resurrection of the Dead then we who are alive and remain will meet them in the air again quoting first Thessalonians 4 the dead in Christ will rise first and we which are alive and remain will be harpazo caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air so the question is asking are you saying that people are literally going to burst out of their graves in a sense I am saying that because I believe the Bible is now how this will actually happen I'm not quite sure but there is a prototype for this already found in scripture it's Matthew 27 and this is the story of what happened after Christ was crucified we read in verse 51 that after the Lord died there on the cross the rock split the tombs open and the parties of godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead after Jesus resurrection they left the cemetery and went into the holy city of Jerusalem and appeared to many people so when the rapture happens it's going to be the ultimate day of the Living Dead but we're not zombies this is when we get our new body so for those that have gone on to be with the Lord they don't have their resurrected body yet that comes at the rapture so what body are they in now I have no idea Bible doesn't address this but trust me they're just fine but this is when they get the resurrected body the glorified perfected version of their body following the rapture we have the emergence of Antichrist the Tribulation Period the judgment of God the Battle of Armageddon and their second coming so let's briefly contrast the rapture and the second coming then we'll read some more from revelation 4 because sometimes the two events are confused the rapture wrapped the rapture I don't know what the rapture is but let's just deal with that right now there is no rapture just a rapture the rapture is sort of a stealth event where we meet the Lord in the Air Force s alone Ian's for sixteen to seventeen and the second coming he comes to the earth and the rapture he comes for his bride for his church in the second coming he returns with his bride her with his church one he comes like a thief the other he comes openly Jesus said as a lightning shines from the east of the West so with the coming of the Son of Man be in the rapture he comes before judgment and the second coming he comes with judgment to events what goes up must come down or caught up to meet the Lord in the rapture we returned back again to the earth with Christ and the second coming so here's John imagine this the Lord's giving him this revelation this unveiling as he looks into the next dimension he's scribbling away being led by the Holy Spirit he has just finished writing the words of revelation 3:20 Jesus became a whole I stand at the door knock if anyone will hear my voice and open the door I will come in and and then he continues to write these words and to him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne suddenly a door is open to John and he has hurtled into the presence of God here's what he saw first to Revelation 4 immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and one sound of the throne he that sent there was like a Jasper and a sardine stone in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne and appearance like an emerald around the throne were twenty-four Thrones and on the thrones i saw twenty-four elders sitting clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold in their heads and from the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes and and back and the first creature was like a lion the second living creature like account the third living creature had the face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle and the four living creatures each having six wings were full of eyes around them within and they don't rest day or night and they're saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty who was who is and is to come and whenever the living creatures in glory and honor and thanks to the one that sits on the throne who lives for ever and ever the 24 elders fall down before him and sits on the throne in worship Him and lives forever and ever and they cast their crowns before the throne saying you are worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by and for your glory they exist and were created Wow mind-blowing isn't it so John's in heaven now according to this scripture there are three heavens Paul spoke of this in 2nd Corinthians 13 he says I was caught up into the third heaven 14 years ago whether my body was there just my spirit I don't really know only God knows but I do know that I was caught up into paradise and heard things so astounding they cannot be told so what are these three heavens well the first heaven would just simply be the sky the atmosphere of the clouds when you walk out today and you look up that's the first heaven number two you have the second heaven that would include everything in the cosmos above the Earth's atmosphere the moon the Stars the planets the galaxies and so forth and then the third heaven is used to describe the very present place of God I've read an interesting article in the paper this last week about a private foundation of astronomers and former astronauts we're building this massive high-powered Space Telescope that will orbit the Sun and track the heavenly bodies that get in life on earth it's going to go into deep space and one of the men involved in this gave this quote in the first three weeks of operation it will find more asteroids and we have found over the past 200 years end quote well look you can build powerful telescopes but no telescope will ever find the third heaven you can't find it why because it's so far up there well I don't know that it's so far up there I remember reading about a Russian astronaut who was atheist and as he peered to the spacecraft window he was quoted to say well I didn't see God up there oh really brilliant statement he doesn't live up there necessarily he lives in the third heaven see conventional wisdom is oh it must be so far and if we just keep developing more powerful telescopes and go deeper into space one day we'll find it young maybe but maybe the third heaven is closed maybe it's just simply speaking of the other dimension that dimension that that is right next to us in a sense remember when a God gave insight into Elijah's servant's heart and mind when he saw the angels of the Lord all around him at that given moment and so I don't know exactly where the third heaven is but we'll never find it with human technology but John is in the third heaven now and what does he see that number one he sees the Lord seated on his throne verses 2 to 3 sardius and John's four were the first and last stones on the breastplate of the high priest and they're mentioned here in chapter 21 of Revelation the Jasper stone is described as crystal clear so it's diamond like the sardius stone is blood-red more like a ruby notice that John says in verse 3 these things were like or like or another way to translate it similar to it was like this it's not like a teenager that uses the word like constantly I'm all like what are you going to do he's like I don't know and then I'm like what are you saying she's like shut up I'm like you know what what are they even saying I don't know no one knows maybe they don't even know I think they do that John's not using like in that way he's saying look I'm limited here I'm using first century Greek to describe supernatural phenomenon to the point I don't know that there's ever been a greater language in Greek however all languages are limited at a time like this so he's trying to describe what he has seen so if we try to interpret everything mentally in a literal way it becomes semi problematic it's sort of beyond our comprehension that is why Paul said the things that I saw are really indescribable so we get a sense of these things but we don't get a literal understanding of all of them at least so John sees the Lord seated on his throne number two he sees 24 elders verse 4 now who these elders are we don't know with certainty they could be angelic beings I doubt that personally they may be representatives of the old and new covenant 12 Old Testament patriarchs 12 apostles then again they may be 24 representatives of the New Testament church I kind of favor that interpretation for this reason they're wearing crowns and the word that is used here to describe crown is a word from the Greek word stefanos and it means the crown of a victor rather than a sovereign so they've received a crown that is more like a reward than something you would give to a king or a queen so it's something they're ruling like kings as much as they've been rewarded for faithfulness and since the scripture promises various crowns for faithfulness these may be just believers that have been super blessed by the Lord I can think of people that might qualify to make it up there and be one of these 24 elders but they've been blessed and God promises various crowns for instance I a crown of life was promised of the Church of Smyrna as you recall in Revelation 2:10 he said to them be faithful unto death I would give you a crown of life then also in James 1:12 it says blessed is the man that endures temptation for when he has been proven he'll receive a crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him so if you have suffered in life if you've been persecuted for your faith if you have a fictive effectively resisted temptation God is promising you this crown of life then there's a crown of righteousness of Paul mention in 2nd Timothy 4:8 where he said there's later from me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me in that day and not only to me but to all the love is appearing so if you're looking forward to the return of Christ you could receive this crown of righteousness so they are crowned but I want you to notice something that's very important verse 10 they cast their crowns of this feet I love that you know because sometimes we might think wow you know in heaven are we going to be like look runga whoa he has more crowns than I have I have a friend that's running a lot of triathlons and Ironmen events and he has hundreds of ribbons with the medals on them and they had them hanging on the wall and I one day I put them all on I look like mr. t in a bad day you know just and it was so ridiculous there were so many and I said I will give you a dollar if you'll go up publicly wearing all these ribbons I'm just jealous because I never won a single ribbon but I he has so many well he wouldn't do it it would be boastful of course so maybe we think of him in that way you know maybe you've got your one paltry little ribbon here comes this guy with 300 ribbons oh no what is the purpose of these ribbons these medals these rewards these crowns the purpose is to cast him down before the Lord I didn't do this so I can one-up someone else I did this for you lord and I want to present to you this is my gift to you I love that that they present their crowns to the Lord number three in heaven John sees ominous storm warnings ominous storm warnings Earth's life and from the throne proceeded lightnings thunderings and voices seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God these are all symbolic of judgment in Scripture from the safety of heaven John can see a storms of brewing on earth and that storm as we will see is the Great Tribulation Period that lasts for seven years however believers are safe in God's arms in his presence in heaven and didn't Jesus promises over in Revelation 3:10 he said to the church at Philadelphia because you have kept my command to persevere I will keep you from the hour of trial which will come on the whole earth detest those at dwell on the earth so we're safe I remember years ago I was at North Carolina and they get some crazy storms there and they just come out of nowhere sometimes in the summer and I remember we were sitting there out on the porch of some hotel sitting in a rocking chair and the sky suddenly turned dark and there was thunder and bolts of lightning and you know I have to say was quite entertaining because we don't have storms like that generally here in California but it was entertaining because I was in the safety of a building with a roof over my head I don't think it would be entertaining if you were out walking around outside especially with lightning striking so here we are in heaven I'm not saying this as entertaining but we're safe and we're secure and we're untouched by this storm but meanwhile down on earth things are going to get really bad and this brings up the issue of how much do people in heaven know about what is happening on earth I say that because sometimes the answer is were oblivious we're so into worshipping Jesus and enjoying the glory of heaven we are not watching the events on earth nor do we about the events on earth well that sounds interesting but it's not biblical because the fact of the matter is we are aware of what is happening on earth and we'll get into this more as we get over to Revelation chapter 6 but we read about those believers that are martyred and they say in a loud voice how long O Lord holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood and those a dwell on the earth so they're aware not only are they aware of what has happened to them they are aware of what is still happening to those that are still on the earth and they're also aware of the passing of time I bring this up because sometimes it said we won't be aware of time in heaven well those people are aware of time and the reminding the Lord that the clock is ticking and they're wondering wondering when he's going to right this wrong now I'm not suggesting everyone in heaven is sitting up there in a little chair peering over the side of what's happening here that's maybe an extreme but at the same time I don't think it would be accurate to say they're oblivious to what is happening here I think if in heaven we are aware of what is happening on earth we would have perspective you see the reason it is said that we don't know what's happening on earth while we're in heaven is it would bring sadness to us for instance if I saw something bad happening I wouldn't enjoy heaven because I see something bad happening on earth but I think I could be aware of it with perspective perspective makes all the difference you know when you're 2 and 1/2 years old and the head of your bar becomes off and suddenly I'm talking about Tom no I'm kidding Tom you would have had a GI Joe I'm sure yeah but Tom the head of your Barbie or your truck falls apart it's like the end of your world is a little kid but an adult looks out and says I'm plug it back on buy you a new Barbie you know you know it's going to be ok and so in life we have calamity we have hardship hit it's the end of our world God big picture with perspective from heaven down and then says it's going to be alright you'll see you'll see one day and so I think with our perspective in heaven we're able to understand what is happening and we see the Lord at all of his glory remember we're going to know more in heaven than we know on earth not less so now John sees some pretty amazing angelic creatures a verse 8 are the four living creatures I mean six wings full of eyes around and within they don't rest day or night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty who was and who is to come now these are mysterious creatures it's hard to wrap our minds around them but the Bible identifies very angelic beings in Scripture and I'm not going to get into all of it right now but just kind of a fly over no pun intended angels fly over but first of all the Bible talks about a cherubim and Seraphim and then it also talks about art and Archangel and so there's various rankings of angels that will get in to later but here we're looking at mysterious amazing angelic creatures but look at what the elders are doing and the reason I want to bring this up is sometimes we will wonder well what will we do in heaven here's one thing you'll do you'll be worshipping verse 10 the 24 elders fell down before him that sits on the throne and worship Him that lives for ever and ever and they cast their crowns before the throne why is it that we'll be doing so much worship in heaven one answer is because we will know a lot more than we know on earth the Bible says in first Corinthians 13 right now we see through a glass darkly but then we will see face to face we will know even as we are known you're not going to know less in heaven you're going to know more it's not like a collective memory white as in men and black will you forget everything on earth you know more than you knew honor you know everything in you on earth plus a lot more with divine perspective give and that knowledge grows I don't know if we get it all straight up when we get to heaven or if our mind expands and we learn more while we're in heaven I just know that ultimately I will know a lot more than I know now now will I know as much as God the Bible doesn't say that but I'll certainly know a lot more than I know at this moment but what will I be doing I'll be worshiping why because I know more I see more I understand better and I will worship Him but that's not all we will be doing we're going to be serving the Lord too because the Bible talked about the fact that we're living in dwelling places or reigning with him were working for him more active verse of Revelation 7:15 says that we're standing at the throne of God serving him day and night I don't know about some of you maybe you just really look forward to resting I've never understood people that want to just retire and golf for the rest of their life can't wait till I retire even a golf every day and fish now if you do that with your life whatever I think it's a waste of life I think it's fine to golf and fish or surf or do whatever you do for fun but not all the time be productive it's nice to take that break recharge your batteries but listen and we'll deal with this more in our next message I've been put on this earth to glorify God not to live for myself you see so maybe you no longer have to work for a living and go to the office or to the worksite every day you are more free time in your hands that's fantastic use your free time for the Lord find something you can volunteer in a way that you can serve a way that you can make a contribution and you recharge doing the fun stuff but you know I can only rest for so long I don't know about you but I go on vacation first of all if I rarely get a two-week vacation but when I do it takes me one week to even hit the rest mode Oh seven days to unwind because I'm so involved and then I rest for seven days and then I am bored beyond belief am i guys know the vacation is almost over because their barrage by emails of new ideas and new things I want to do well good that's sort of the objective isn't it it's not to find a way to live in vacation forever it's a way to vacate to wreak create or to recreate to be recharged and come back and hopefully be more productive in serving the Lord so we'll rest in heaven and up to you the idea of an eternal nap is appealing what I'm going to say is going to disappoint you oh yeah though be a rest from your Labor's you'll no longer be fighting with sin and you'll worship but then you're going to work and I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to working and serving the Lord and bringing glory to his name so that's what we're going to be doing the scripture teaches that so let's wrap this up this day is coming this day is coming sooner than we may think so what am I supposed to do in the interim what am I to do is I wait let me come back to someone I touched on but want to bring a couple points out about them and that's Enoch our prototype rapture guy who was caught up to meet the Lord Genesis 5:24 it says Enoch walked with God and was not for God took up so what am I supposed to do is I'm waiting to be caught up with the Lord some of these people that got into the false prophecy of Harold Camping quit their job some divorce their spouses you know because they were waiting for the rapture well even if they knew the deed of the rocks are that is certainly not what you're supposed to do what am I supposed to do is I wait for the Lord's return charge up my credit cards because I won't have to pay him now no I'm gonna walk with God that's what Enoch did what does it mean to walk with God well the word walk implies effort regularity consistency it doesn't say Enoch sprinted with God though the you our Bible does use the metaphor of running many times in this sentence it says he walked with God it feeds us something you do every day and that's what we need we need consistency in our relationship with God now I've told you before I've tried running I hate running here's why here's why because I'll run I don't know there's something I'm walking I'm going to walk in and feel good the moment I start to run everything starts shaking you know just and yeah I just I don't like it so what I'll do is I'll run for four feet and then I'll stop ha and I'm exhausted but I can walk for really a long time and so sometimes we go with bursts of energy I'm going to do this for God Lord I love you and we collapse in a heat exhaling panting then we get up again after an hour and we run for four more minutes and we collapse again that doesn't help anybody just walk just walk just be consistent Enoch walked with God was a day-by-day effort and you know when you're learning to walk spiritually you make mistakes at first you stumble always amaze learning watching the child take their first steps I remember when my oldest granddaughter second oldest I should say I took her first steps I saw before anybody else I was over at Christopher and Britney's house and I was playing with Stella and she kind of got up on her feet there's kind of wobbling around and then she took a step and I thought oh my she gonna didn't she did another and did like maybe a third and a half of a part I said Stella just walked he said no no I said no and I thought first mark it in time then she did it for them I think we captured it on video her first steps and you know when children take their first steps her wobbly at first watching my youngest granddaughter ally you know show she crawled for a while and and then she starts walking then they walk and crawl for a while you know because it's easier to default back to crawling and pretty soon they're walking from place to place they grab onto things the next thing you know they're running the next thing you know they're climbing and that's the same spiritually we start off with baby steps we fall on bump our head we need help standing up pretty soon we're walking on our own then we're moving forward so Enoch walked with God and that's what we need to do as well to walk now here's another interesting thing when it says that Enoch walked with God it spoke of consistency Amos 3:3 says can two walk together unless they ever agree unless you ever agree if I'm going to take a walk with you Enoch walked with God right if we're going to walk together we stay in harmony it's not going to be helpful if I'm down up here and you're back there what we're both walking but we're not walking together are we so to walk with God means I keep my appointment does it drive you crazy when people are late for appointments I have a friend Bob shank you've heard him speak here he has a phrase and I thought it was really good here it is early is on time on time is late late is never acceptable but that's good I remembered it early is on time on time is late late is never acceptable someone you're going to meet someone for an appointment it's always good to be a little early not too early not an hour early that seems desperate but a few moments you've sort of thought it through you parked your car you're meeting them in the restaurant you're meeting them wherever so early really is on time on time it's kind of late because if they got there early you're gonna be there late and late well that's just never acceptable you like that saying you don't like it you're like I don't know they're the lay people you know I would think you guys would like it your first service come on you're on time third service they're not going to like this you're going to say I don't really agree with that late is good somehow they manage a third service to come late I don't know how that works but anyway now if you have an appointment with someone very important you want to be there on time especially it's insulting to come late no way oh hey you're 30 minutes late oh no traffic whatever you say dog-ate-my-homework has nothing to do with homework I don't know it's worked before it's threw it out there what does that say you know I really don't care that much about you you're not that important to me or maybe while we're meeting my phone rings I take to call hey how's it going all you have plenty of time go you guys just sitting there girls sitting there what does that say shows disrespect listen you have an appointment with God to keep each and every day don't show up late and don't take phone calls while you're talking to the Lord pay attention every morning I get up and I take time to open the Word of God I take time to pray I take time to commune with them to walk with God keep that appointment don't be late for that appointment don't ever miss that appointment walk with the Lord listen to this and this is my last point one day we all have an appointment and we don't know necessarily when it is to meet him and I hope that you are ready because the Lord is coming for those who are watching and waiting hebrews 9:28 says Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many and those who eat early wait for him to them he will appear at second time apart from sin for salvation let's pray father we want to be eagerly waiting for Jesus we want to keep our appointment we don't want to be late we don't want to squander our time or waste our resources everything that we have has been given to us from you so lord help us to invest our lives wisely help us to live our lives in a way that honors you help us all to walk with you we pray we commit ourselves to you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 106,192

Rating: 4.7508531 out of 5

Keywords: Greg Laurie, Billy Graham, post office, heaven, hell, rapture, bride, Christ, coming, end times, worship, throne, God, caught up, taken, believers, Christian, Church, 1 Thessalonians 4:13, informed, second coming

Id: tQXlwom2oVk

Length: 52min 9sec (3129 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 09 2012