Hello, and welcome to this
teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque. Skip's teachings
are shared globally, and we're encouraged
when we hear how lives are being transformed. If this message inspires
you to keep pursuing Jesus, we would love to know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And if you'd like to support
this ministry financially, you can give online securely
at calvaryabq.org/giving. Have you ever wondered
what eternity in heaven will be like? Well in our series
"What's Next," Skip teaches from the
Book of Revelation, examining the amazing
prophecies found there. Now we invite you to
turn in your Bible to Revelations chapter five
as Skip begins the message, what is heaven like? Father, we always
feel the need for you to bless this meal we're
about to partake of, this spiritual meal. And so Father, we ask
for wisdom and insight, and that your word would
captivate our attention, for you have a message for us. And it's a message of
hope and understanding. Lord, I pray that as heaven
gets clearer in focus before our eyes, that
as we used to sing, the things of this world will
grow strangely dim in the light of your glory and grace. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, there was a preacher who
preached a sermon on heaven. And the text he
used was Genesis 28, of Jacob's Ladder going up into
heaven and the angels of God descending and ascending on it. The pastor's son was in that
sermon, and as a young boy it just captivated
his attention. And a couple days later
he went and said, Dad, I had a dream about
heaven, about your sermon. He said, well, tell me about it. He goes, well, I had
a dream that there was a ladder that went from
Earth all the way up to heaven, like the sermon. But at the bottom of this ladder
there were pieces of chalk, and before anyone
was allowed to go up on the ladder they had to
take a piece of the chalk and write a mark
for every sin they have committed on the
rungs of the ladder. So I'm going in my dream up this
ladder, haven't gotten very far when somebody is
coming down the ladder. And Dad said, well,
who would that be? He said, well, it was you, Dad. He said, I was coming
down the ladder. Why would I be coming
down the ladder? And his boy said,
for more chalk. [LAUGHTER] Well, the imaginations
of a boy are fun, but the revelation
of God is better. And God gives to
John the Apostle a revelation of the
heaven of the future. Now, if you are a
believer in Jesus Christ, if you follow him,
you will one day, either through death
or rapture, see heaven. That's where you're going. So let's get
oriented on what it's going to be like a
little bit so that when you arrive you won't seem
like a country bumpkin, like what's that? Somebody else is going, it
was in the Book of Revelation. So we want to get a little
bit of a grip on what you can expect. After all, we're going to be
spending enough time studying about the Tribulation period,
the worst period in history from chapters six through 19. Let's get under
our spiritual belts the best part of the deal. And that is what heaven
is going to be like. Because once that
rapture does occur, that's going to trigger
a chain of events. And part of the
chain of events is called the 70th Week of Daniel. If you know the
Book of Daniel, you know that that last
seven-year period is known as the 70th Week of Daniel. It is also called by
Jeremiah the Prophet a time of Jacob's Trouble. It's also known as the Day of
the Lord by several prophets. It is the worst period of
time to come in human history. It is catastrophic. But during that time,
even while Israel is experiencing trouble
and persecution along with the nations
of the world, it will be a time of
great revival as well. But what you need to know
is that the reason why, the story behind all that, the
backstory as to why all this is happening, is found of
all places in heaven, in Revelation Chapter 5. And I would say that Revelation
Chapter 5 is the greatest real estate deal in history. You can think of a couple of
deals in our nation's history that are terrific real
estate deals, like buying New York, Manhattan, when
Peter Minuit in 1624 or 1626 paid the equivalent of $24 for
Manhattan, for New York City. I mean, that's
before Donald Trump. That out trumps Trump. That's a deal. Or you may be thinking of
the Louisiana Purchase, if you remember
that from school. 1803, Thomas Jefferson
paid, what, $15 million for almost a
million square miles west of the Mississippi
River so our nation could grow-- amazing deals. But the greatest
deal is this deal, because it involves all of
the Earth, all of the world reclaimed. In Revelation 5, I want to give
to you four characteristics about heaven. There are many more
characteristics, but because of time and text
we want to look at four. Now, I want to be moving
rapidly through this, and because the language
is symbolic, figurative, and I'll be
explaining it, it will demand your utmost
attention to understand it. But here is the first
characteristic of heaven. First, heaven is a real place. Heaven isn't a figment
of one's imagination. It's not something
somebody made up to pass on to people
who are suffering, to give them a little
bit of hope in this life. It's a real place, and the
Bible describes it as such. Notice the first
words of Chapter 5, "And I saw,"
followed by verse 2, "then I saw," and then verse
6, "and I looked and behold." You see, this is
John's visit to heaven. He is given a private
tour, a guided tour, and he experiences what he
experiences with his sight as well as his ears. It's a visual and
auditory experience, and so we find in the
Book of Revelation that kind of language. The words "I looked"
is found 12 times in Revelation, the
words "I saw," 34 times; "I heard," 26 times. So he is fully entering into
a visual, auditory experience with his senses of heaven. And by the way, heaven is
found, that word, 532 times in the Bible. It is a huge subject. And whenever it's
spoken about, it's spoken about something
that is a real place. How did Jesus
speak about heaven? He spoke about it as
a real place, right? He said, in my father's house
there are many mansions. If it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going to prepare
a place for you. Heaven then is a real place. It's so real that Paul said
our citizenship is in heaven. Think of heaven as
home sweet home. It really is your
home sweet home. Everything that is important
to a believer is in heaven. The Father is there. Your Savior is there. Your comforter is there. All of God's people
throughout all of history are or will be there. Your reward is there. That is why Paul said, for me
to live is Christ and to die is gain. Because of that. So John takes a tour. And we saw in Chapter 4 he
saw a throne set in heaven, and one who sat on that throne. And he uses words a
lot like "behold." Now that's a Bible
word, "behold." "Behold" it is a word that
denotes something remarkable. It's like saying whoa or
wow, or hey, check this out. Look at this. Behold. This is all to inspire
awe in the reader. I heard a story about a cat
who died and went to heaven, and Peter was there at the
gate welcoming the cat in and saying, look. We've noticed you've been a
really great cat while you were on the Earth, so we want
to do something special for you. What is it you'd like? And the cat said,
well, you know, Peter, I've lived a pretty hard life. I lived with a poor
family on a farm, and all the places I had to
sleep were hard surfaces. Peters said, say no more. A big fluffy pillow was
provided for the cat in heaven. A few days later,
half a dozen mice died and they were taken to heaven. Peter was there. Made him the same offer. And the cat said,
you know Peter, we mice have had it
pretty tough on the Earth. We're always being chased
by cats or dogs or women with brooms-- everything. So we were thinking--
it sounds crazy-- but it would be
so cool in heaven if we could have roller skates. Peter said, say no more, and
the cutest little roller skates were made for the mices'
feet and off they rolled. About a week later,
Peter decided to check up on these
new occupants of heaven. He went over to the cat, who was
asleep on that big fluffy furry pillow. Cat woke up with a
big yawn and a smile and Peter said, so
how's it going up here? And the cat said,
Peter, it's going great. And by the way,
those meals on wheels that you're sending over? [LAUGHTER] They're the best. They are the best. OK, so heaven is not
going to be like that. But I'll tell you
this, heaven's going to be a lot better
than most people think heaven is going to be. There is nothing whatsoever
in the text of scripture in the Bible about
sitting on some dumb cloud and playing a harp,
nor is there any sense that Peter's going to be
at the gate like in all those dumb jokes like
the one I just told you. What John describes is
the ultimate adventure. He describes a divine light
show, an emerald rainbow around the throne of God. And the one who
sat on the throne, this brilliant iridescent set
of stones that are glowing. It's a throne room. It's heaven. It's real. You'll be there. You'll see it. One of the best books I
ever read about heaven, by Randy Alcorn, he says
Satan labors to give people an inaccurate view of heaven. Our enemy slanders three
things-- God's person, God's people, and God's place. Some of his favorite
lies, writes Alcorn, "are lies concerning heaven." That makes sense. Satan was evicted from heaven. You are going to heaven
if you know Christ. All of that would be
sufficient motivation to have him work hard
to try to lie about what it's going to be like. Heaven is a real place. Second characteristic--
heaven is a relevant place. Notice in verse 1, "I saw
in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll. It was written inside
and on the back. It was sealed with seven seals. And then I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the
scroll and loose its seals? And no one in Heaven or on
the Earth or under the Earth was able to open the
scroll or to look at it." The focus now turns from the
throne and the one sitting on the throne to the right
hand of the one sitting on the throne. There is a scroll. There is a document in the
upturned palm of the one that is sitting on this
throne, and that document has something to
do with the Earth. Heaven has always been
concerned about what is going on on the Earth. The New Testament
talks about the angels desiring to look into the
things that happen to us. Can't you just
picture them peeking over the portals of heaven,
wondering at human beings? Jesus even said there is joy
in the presence of the angels when one sinner repents. So heaven is always
concerned with what goes on on planet Earth. Now, the scroll-- we
know that a scroll were ancient documents that
came before these things, before books. This is a codex, codex. And codexes or miny
codexes, are books. Before books there were scrolls. And typically, scrolls
were rolled from both ends toward the center. And with ancient documents,
a portion would be written, the scroll would be turned,
a seal would be placed of wax typically to affix it
so you couldn't open it unless you broke the seal. More would be written, turned,
sealed, written, turned, sealed, et cetera. Those are how ancient
documents were written. Robert Thomas said the
Hebrew document most closely resembling what
we're reading here was the ancient title
deed property deed. So a deed was drawn
up for the transaction of a piece of property. On the inside of that scroll
were written the assets. On the outside of that scroll
were written the requirements to buy that piece of
property or to buy it back. If you remember
your Old Testament, you know that land in Israel
could never be permanently lost so that if you had to forfeit
a piece of land, eventually someone related to you who
is willing to pay the price and able to pay the price--
those are the requirements, has to be related. So it's a goel. That's the Hebrew word. A goel is a kinsman redeemer. He has to be willing. OK, I want to go through it. I want that piece of land. And he has to have
the money to do it. He has to be related,
willing, and able to do it. And that's why these scrolls
all had redemption provisions or redemption clauses
written within it. If the property gets lost,
here are the requirements to get it back, to
purchase it back. Now, what I just
described is really the story of the Book of Ruth. Land is lost, the owner
dies, Elimelech dies. The widow and her
daughters-in-law move back to Bethlehem. The land is up for
buyback redemption. A guy named Boaz who is
related, able, and willing gets the land and the bride, and
they live happily ever after. That's the story in
the Book of Ruth. There is also a story-- and
you don't have to turn to it, but I want you to
remember it if you can or write it down to look
at it later-- Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah was a prophet who
in Chapter 32 is in jail. You know why he's in jail? He's in jail because
he was a preacher and he preached
the truth, and he said judgment is
coming on this nation. This nation is going down. The Babylonians are going to
destroy it, take us all away, and this land will be
lost to a foreign power. People didn't like
that, threw him in jail. While he's in jail his
cousin comes to him to visit. His cousin's name is Hanamel. And Hanamel says, Jeremiah,
buy my property in Anathoth, just outside of Jerusalem. For he says, the right
of inheritance is yours. You can buy my property. Now, that's a stupid thing
to say tell him to do. Jeremiah has predicted
the Babylonians are taking over the land. This land will be valueless if
the Babylonians take it over like Jeremiah predicted. Why would Jeremiah
want to do it? And when they come back,
Jeremiah said 70 years later they'll both be dead. So he won't be coming
back to the land. But God says, Jeremiah,
as a statement of faith, buy the land, pay
the money for it, and get the title deed, because
eventually your offspring will come back and they'll
have land to settle in. So it says in that
chapter, God from heaven says take both the sealed
deed, that scroll that is sealed with wax seals,
take the sealed deed title deed and the unsealed copy and
put them into a pottery jar and preserve them
for a long time, for the Lord almighty,
the God of Israel, says some day people will
again own property here in this land and buy and
sell houses and vineyards and fields. Back to Revelation 5. What is this scroll? Whatever this scroll
is, number one it's highly significant, because
it's in the right hand of God. That makes it important. Number two, it involves the
fate of everybody on the Earth. And even heaven is looking
and wondering at it. That's verses three and four. And also, jubilant praises erupt
in heaven when finally somebody meets the requirements to redeem
something, to take that scroll. I suggest to you what
we're looking at is the title deed to the Earth. The title deed to the Earth. We would call Chapter 5 of
Revelation in real estate terms the closing of the deal. Some of you might
hear that and go, nah, I don't know about that. I mean, why would God, who
created the Earth to begin with and maintains it with His
power, need to buy it back, need to do this? Now listen carefully. Here's why. Because the Earth, though
it is God's by creation, was lost to a usurper. Adam in effect turned over
the title deed to the earth to Satan in the Garden of Eden. That's why Paul said in Romans
5 through one man-- that's Adam-- through one
man sin entered the world, and death through
sin, and death spread to all. But it wasn't just
mankind that was affected. It wasn't just people
that was affected. Property was affected. The Earth itself
came under a curse. Romans Chapter 8
says, this creation was made subject to futility,
and all of creation, he said, groans and travails,
wanting to be delivered. So what did Jesus Christ
call the Devil, call Satan? He called him the
ruler of this world. The ruler of this world,
on many occasions. What did Paul call Satan? The god of this age. What did the apostle
John say of the Devil? It says the whole world is under
the sway of the wicked one. And then do you
remember when Jesus was taken up to a high mountain
and tempted by the Devil? The Devil came to Jesus, showed
him the kingdoms of this world, and said, all this authority
I will give you and its glory, for it has been
delivered to me and I give it to whomsoever I wish. Jesus didn't dispute that. He didn't argue that. So the scroll is the title
deed to planet Earth, and as each seal will be broken,
as you see beginning in Chapter 6, as each seal is
broken open, the Earth gets purged through unimaginable
tribulation, judgment. But it's also a
scroll of redemption, because during that
time, as I mentioned, 144,000 Jews will be saved, an
innumerable number of Gentiles, non-Jewish people, will
be saved in all the Earth, as the world is taken
back from the usurper. The usurper gets
usurped by this. And so the question
comes in heaven, and it's a very, very
critical question-- who is worthy to open the
scroll and to loose the seals? It's a very important question. Who has the right? Who has the
authority to take it? Who has the innate
virtuous worthiness of character, the divine
right to take that scroll? Who has the power to
defeat Satan and wipe out the effects of sin on
the Earth, to reverse the curse put on all creation? Who is worthy? And then something very
troubling appears, verse 3. "And no one in Heaven or
on Earth or under the Earth was able to open the
scroll or to look at it." In other words, the
question is asked, and the answer is dead silence. Who is worthy to
take the scroll? Nobody steps forward. Of all the millions of
angels, not one of them-- Gabriel, Michael, none of
them-- say, I can do it. Abraham, father of faith? He didn't say anything. He didn't step forward. Isaac, Jacob, the prophets,
Elijah, Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah, Zechariah, David? Nobody says a word. No one says, I'm worthy. I've got the power. I've got the right. Dead silence. Verse 4, John says,
"So I wept much." Now wait a minute,
just a minute. When it says, "I wept much." Four words-- we read that and
go, OK, so he wiped a tear. He had too much
onion or something. Who knows. No. When it says, "I wept much," let
me translate it from the Greek into English. And so I cried
aloud convulsively. I sobbed in loud wails
over and over again. That's the intent of it. Who can blame him? Here's John. He's come up into heaven. He sees this. Wow, the throne. Wow! But then there's
that title deed, and nobody steps
forward to take it. So I wept much. W.A. Criswell
writes, "John's tears represent the tears
of all God's people through all the centuries. They're the tears
of Adam and Eve as they viewed the still
form of their dead son, Abel, and sensed the awful consequence
of their disobedience. These are the tears of
the children of Israel in bondage as they cried
to God for deliverance from their affliction
and their slavery. These are the sobs in the tears
wrung from the heart and soul of God's people
as they have stood beside the graves of
loved ones and experienced indescribable heartache and
disappointments of life. Such is the curse
that sin has laid upon God's beautiful creation. No wonder John
wept so fervently. If no redeemer could be
found to remove the curse, it meant that God's
creation was forever consigned to remain in
the hands of Satan." So John sees this and John
hears this, and there's silence and a hopelessness grips him. And he begins to sob out
loud in convulsions almost. Finally, we'll see an elder, one
of the elders in heaven, says, whoa, dude. He didn't actually say, "Whoa,
dude," but he says, don't cry. Stop crying. A hero is on the move. And he points him out. Which takes me to the third
characteristic of heaven. Heaven is a real place. Heaven is a relevant place. And heaven is a
redemptive place. You'll notice verse
4, "So I wept much, because no one was found worthy
to open and read the scroll or to look at it. But one of the elders
said to me, do not weep." Literally, stop crying. "Behold," there's
that word again. Check this out, John. Check this out, something
remarkable. "Behold the lion of the tribe of
Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll
and to loose its seven seals. And I looked, and
behold, in the midst of the throne and the
four living creatures and in the midst of the elders
stood a lamb, as though it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God
sent out into all the Earth. And then he came and he took
the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne." So, stop crying John. Check this out. Look who's coming. And he points to and describes,
in well-attested Old Testament language, the Messiah. Notice he's called the
lion of the tribe of Judah. I hope some of your minds
are going back to Genesis 49, where the Tribe of Judah
is described as a lion. Hence the term Lion
of the Tribe of Judah. The term is to convey
a ferocity, a roar, a real menacing presence. That's what a lion does. And by the way, the Jews
expected their messiah to be like a lion-- roaring,
taking over, ruling, king of the forest. Jesus was not that
at his first coming. He was a lamb. He was a sacrifice. He was humble. He was humiliated,
but for a purpose. But this anticipates
his second coming. The Lion of the Tribe
of Judah is on the move. In the terms of
C.S. Lewis, Aslan is on the move, the Lion
of the Tribe of Judah. He's also described as
the Root of David that's right out of Isaiah Chapter 11. The prediction is,
there will come forth a route from the stem of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David. That's a messianic term. So get the scene. John's up there. He's crying. Elder says, don't weep. Stop crying. Check it out. Check it out. Lion of the Tribe of
Judah, right over there. So he turns around
to see a lion. There's no lion. And I'm not lyin'. There was no lion. He turns to see a lion
and he sees a lamb, as though it had been slain. Now, this is just Revelation
speak for the lion was the lamb and the lamb was the lion. They're one in the same. Two different comings, two
different emphases, but it's the same one. It's the same
purpose, same person. A lamb-- a lamb is a frequent
picture of Jesus, right? John the Baptist
said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world." 29 times in the Book
of Revelation Jesus is referred to as a lamb. But this is a very
different lamb. Notice, this lamb
has seven horns. Have you ever seen a
lamb with any horns? This one has seven horns. A horn is an implement
by which an animal gains authority over another animal. It's a symbol of
strength and authority. The idea that there are seven,
seven a number of completion, suggests this lamb
has omnipotence. He's all-powerful,
has all authority. Moreover, he has seven eyes. Eyes signify insight, knowledge,
wisdom, comprehension. Again, seven eyes would suggest
this lamb has omniscience. He knows everything. And then, which are the
seven spirits of God-- that's something we saw in
Chapter 4 but didn't unlock that metaphor. That's the sevenfold
spirit of God. You can write down in the margin
of your Bible Isaiah 11:2, Chapter 11 verse 2. It describes all of these are
Old Testament analogies brought into the New Testament. So the seven-fold working
of the Holy Spirit, here's what it's saying I
believe-- this lamb is perfect in strength, perfect in
knowledge, perfect in presence. Behold the Lion of the Tribe
of Judah, the Lamb of God. Something else to
notice about this lamb-- it's a very different
lamb, because it looks as though it has been slain. We know it's alive, because
it's standing and walking and it takes the scroll
out of the right hand. But it looks as though it's
bearing marks of violence from some past event,
like it's been killed. Now, keep in mind
this is heaven. This is a picture
of Jesus in heaven. When Jesus rose from
the dead, he still bore the marks of his
crucifixion, right? He had to say to Thomas,
reach your hand here. Look, see that it's me. Put your hands in my wounds. So he had those wounds in his
glorified resurrected body. He ascended into
heaven in that body. He is at the right hand
of the father's throne in that crucified body. And here's what's remarkable. Maybe this will cause
a wholesale humility for all of us. Could it be that the only
work of man in heaven that we will see are
the marks of crucifixion that we put on him. And that would not be
to shame any of us. It would be his badge of honor
and glory, just to remind us, you are worth this to me. We used to sing a
great song around here. The nails in your hands,
the nails in your feet, tell me how much you love me. And when the heavens
pass away, all your scars will still remain
and forever they will say how much you love me. That song captures this meaning. And this is why he is worthy. This is why he's qualified
to take the scroll. Remember what I said? There are three
requirements in Antiquity to redeem back a title deed,
a piece of property that's been lost. Three requirements--
you have to related, you have to be willing,
you have to be able. The first question, was
Jesus related to us? Sure he was. He was God. But it says, the word became
flesh and lived among us. He was one of us. He became a human
related to humanity. So he is related,
first qualification. Second, was he willing? Was he willing to go to the
cross, or was this forced? Was he just murdered
by the Romans? No. What Jesus said is
the good shepherd lays down his life
for the sheep. No man, said Jesus,
takes my life from me. I have the power to lay it
down, and I have the power to take it again. So when we realize it
wasn't those nails that held Jesus on the
cross, it was his love that kept him on the cross,
we understand he was related and he was willing. Third requirement, able--
was he able to do it? Did he have the bank, the price? Yeah, because what did
it cost to redeem us? What did he pay for it? His blood. That's why the anthem in
heaven down in verse 9 is, "We have been
redeemed by your blood." You are worthy because
you spent your blood. So he's related,
willing, and able. Before I read the rest of
the chapter, which sort of is the same activity,
I give you-- and we close with this-- the fourth
characteristic of heaven. Heaven is a responsive place. It's a real place. It's a relevant place. It's a redemptive place. It's also a responsive place. Notice what they
do, verse 8, "When he had taken the
scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders
fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and golden
bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new
song, saying you are worthy to take the
scroll to open its seals, for you were slain." And notice, "You
have redeemed us." We touched on this
last week. "You have redeemed us to God by
your blood out of every tribe, tongue, people, nation. You've made us kings
and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth. And I looked and I heard
the voice of many angels around the throne, living
creatures and elders. The number of them
was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands
of thousands." Do a little math, you discover
it's 100 million plus plus. Singing with a
loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was
slain to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength,
honor, glory, and blessing. And every creature which is
in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, such as
are in the sea-- all of God's creation, all of his
animate creation. And all that are in them I
heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to
him who sits on the throne and to the lamb
forever and ever. And the four living
creatures said-- and I can only think that some
of the four living creatures have to be Baptist,
because they keep saying this word-- they said, "Amen." They say it a lot in heaven. Amen. Amen? OK, see? It's easy to say. And the 24 elders fell down and
worshiped him who lives forever and ever. So the fitting response
to taking the title deed redeeming the world at the cross
and through the tribulation judgments, to get it back
from the control of Satan, the fitting response is worship. Worship. You know, I have
people that say things like this-- is that all we're
going to be doing in heaven, worship? Because honestly, it sounds
a little boring to me. Sitting around and
singing, that's why I come late for service. I just want to skip
the worship part and get to the
meat of the stuff. That all we're
going to be doing? And that is further accentuated
by the many eulogies I have heard at funerals
through the years. And every time I hear
something like this I just always sort of
internally shake my head but smile outwardly,
because it's a funeral. But somebody gets up and
says, I know right now Fred's up there playing golf. [LAUGHTER] I'm looking like, really? That's the best you got? Or, I know that she's up
there right now knitting and she has her
puppies around her. Why is it that we have to
reduce the glories of heaven to an earthbound activity
that we think it doesn't get any better than that? Listen, I'm reading this. John is in heaven and
there is worship going on, and as I read it
John is not bored. And I have a hunch-- I have
a hunch by reading this-- that there is nothing
more fascinating than God when you are
face-to-face with him. I think the last
thing you're going to be thinking when you're
face-to-face with God is, can I play golf now? [APPLAUSE] If that's all you've got,
you need something better. Now, there's more
to do in heaven. There will be more to do. We don't have time
to say it now, but you'll see-- we will
be serving in heaven. We will be returning from heaven
to the earth at some point when there is an uncreation
that happens to this earth and a millennial
kingdom that is set up. And by the way, in
the millennial kingdom you will rule and reign
with Jesus during that time. So there's a lot to do. But of the many
activities to do, worship, face-to-face
encounter, is high on the list. And if you have been redeemed,
I think you get this. If you haven't been redeemed,
all you can think about is knitting and golf. But if you've been redeemed,
your response is, listen. Listen. The wages of sin is what? OK, it's death. But thank god you got
to quit before payday. So he got the paycheck. Jesus took the
paycheck of death, and he died in your place. So he took the death
paycheck and he gave you the Powerball paycheck. He let you cash in on heaven. So the first and
fitting response is, "Worthy is the
lamb who was slain. You took the debt
and you paid it." And I don't care
who you are or what you have done, how bad
your sins are in the past. You might be the guy that
has to come down and keep getting more chalk to
keep marking the ladder. But Jesus paid it all. He paid it all. And you might have a lot
of chalk that you need, but he came to
erase the chalkboard and take the record away. That's why he's called Savior,
and that's why we worship him. Father, we want to thank
you for this chapter. And there are so many
more elements in it and things that could be
said, but in this context, in this setting, and for this
purpose enough has been said. We are meditating on
those characteristics of heaven-- a real
place, a relevant place, a redemptive place,
a responsive place. I pray, Lord, for
our present response. We're gathered
here on Earth, just getting a little bit of a
literary glimpse into glory. We're just peeking through the
keyhole of the door of heaven and getting this
glorious scene described. But one day we'll be there. One day we'll see it,
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the
light of your glory and grace. Father, I pray for those
who have gathered here. They don't know you personally. They have come to
church, but they have yet to come to Christ. They have not personally
surrendered their life to the control of God. I pray that would change today. I pray for those who have
wandered away from your fold, from the flock of God. Their life is not
what they thought it was going to be with
the choices they've made. It's not full. It's not rich. It's empty. And some have shed tears. In their darkness
they have cried out like we read even here
in Revelation, wondering is there somebody to deliver? Is there somebody
to fix this mess? And at such a time as
that, the Lamb of God, the Lion of the Tribe of
Judah, the one who was slain, the one who took the paycheck
of death steps forward. Lord, I pray that some who
are gathered here this morning would say yes to Jesus. Our heads are bowed. Our eyes are closed. I will keep mine open. If you are willing to give your
life to Christ this morning or to return to Him, would
you raise your hand up in the air high so I can see it? Raise it up so I can
[INAUDIBLE] this morning. I'm asking you, do you want
to turn your life to Christ? God bless you to my right. Who else? Raise your hand up. And you, right in the middle. Anybody else? Raise that hand up high in the
air so I can acknowledge it. Right there, right
there-- one, two, three. Three of you guys, gals. In the very back. Anyone else? God bless you in the
back to my right. Anybody in the balcony? Raise it up high. Bless you. Father, thank you. Thank you. Some of us here
remember a day like this when we said yes to Jesus. But for these, Lord,
with those raised hands we saw a moment
ago, how grateful we are for this decision. Pray you'd bless it. Pray that you'd bring to
these lives a real joy. A real joy-- a peace
that passes their ability to even comprehend
it as they enter into a relationship with you, a
covenant relationship with you. And the old gets lost
forever, and the new life comes and is enjoyed. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's stand to our feet. I'm going to ask
those of you who raised your hands to
make your way forward, finding the nearest
aisle, and stand right up here in the front, where
I'm going to lead you in a prayer to receive Jesus. Why do we do it publicly? Jesus himself called
people publicly, and I think it does
you great good when you are willing to make
a break from the past and make a stand for Christ. [APPLAUSE] So we're going to give
you that opportunity. Just come and stand
right up here. Some of our counselors
will join you, as well. It's so great. It's so great. (SINGING): Bring your sorrows
and trade them for joy. From the ashes, a
new life is born. Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the alter. The Father's arms
are robed in white. Forgiveness was born with the
precious love Jesus Christ. I love it. Anybody else? Whether you raised your hand
or not, whether I saw it or not is irrelevant. If you're outside, I don't
know if there's anyone outside. If you're in overflow,
they'll walk you over here. They'll walk you
over here right now. Just raise your hand. There's a pastor. Just lift it up. Bless you. Awesome. Awesome. All right, God bless you. [APPLAUSE] Glad you came. Anybody else? Anyone else? [APPLAUSE] Anyone else? This is important. I know there's a
game today, right? It'll keep. That's why they invented TiVo. But this is monumental. Anyone else? [APPLAUSE] All you've got to
do is say, OK, yes, and just step out of that
aisle or say excuse me. You will part the
Red Sea in your aisle if you just say, excuse me. Anybody else? I'd give it time,
because I remember me. It took me a while, because I
knew that I needed to do this. I knew I needed
to do this, but I was just really crafty
and good at fighting God. I had all the little walls up. It felt really good to knock
those walls down and make a stand. Anyone else at all? God's been speaking to
your heart for a while. This is your opportunity
now to respond to that. Hey, for those of you who have
come-- so good to see you here. [APPLAUSE] I love this. I live for this. So we're going to
pray right now. I'm going to lead
you in a prayer. So pretend nobody's
here right now. It's just us. We're just here. Come over this way. Let's gather together close. So I'm going to lead
you in a prayer. I'm going to ask you to pray
these words out loud after me. Say these words from your heart. You're saying them
to God, and it's your statement of a faith
in him, of trusting him. It's asking him to come
in and invade your life. All right? Let's pray. Say Lord, I give you my life. I am a sinner. I know it. Please forgive me. I believe that
Jesus came and died, that he shed his blood for me,
and that he rose from the dead. I turn from my sin. I repent of it. And with your help, I turn to
you, to Jesus as my Savior. I want to follow him as my Lord. Help me. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. [APPLAUSE] Congratulations, and
welcome to God's family. Jesus is a lamb who
was slain for our sins, and he is truly
worthy of our praise. How does this message give
you hope for your future? We would love to know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And just a reminder, you can
give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/giving. Thank you for listening
to this message from Skip Heitzig of
Calvary Albuquerque.
