What We Will Do in Heaven

well let's turn in our Bibles now to Revelation chapter 15 Revelation chapter 15 and the title of my message is what we will do in heaven quick question how many of you have ever used GPS before raise up your hand how many you have you have been misdirected by GPS it yeah I have two you know I'm navigationally challenged okay I get lost very easily and I've punched in the address and dutifully follow the directions it tells me to turn left here to turn right there and I can think of times where I know it's wrong and so I'll get on the proper freeway because I recognize where I am and then the GPS starts correcting me turn right at the next off-ramp turn right at the next off-ramp I don't know about your GPS but mine says I told you turn right at the next off-ramp the other day it insulted me you idiot I had to go into the menu and like take off the D nag feature it was really weird no I made that up but I actually wrote about a motorist I think they were know walking that ended up in a snowmobile trail because they obeyed their GPS that led them and the wrong direction they ended up stuck in the snow and had to call 911 respondent said people shouldn't believe everything these things tell you you know GPS can fail us but now think about the sophisticated homing instinct of a bird a bird that God has created that seems to have better GPS and our latest technology consider a bird known as the minks Shearwater these amazing birds nest off the coast of Wales scientists took a number of them and tag and release them at different points around the globe to see whether they could find their way back home to the coast of Wales in just 12 days all of the birds made their way back and one bird in particular made it all the way from Boston traveling 250 miles a day from a place that had never been before to get back home now that is what you call a homing instinct there's another bird known as the Golden Plover it's native to the islands of Hawaii the Plumber migrates during the summer to the Aleutian Islands some 1,200 miles away I guess the plumber feels you know it's really hot in Hawaii in the summer too many tourists let's go to the Aleutian Islands and so these birds fly 1,200 miles away when they arrived they mate they lay their eggs and their little fledglings are born and then the parent birds fly back to the islands and the little fledglings are left there to grow up and then they instinctively know to make the same journey to a place they have never been before of 1,200 miles now that is amazing so the next time someone calls you a birdbrain take it as a compliment a homing instinct to a place they've never been God has placed a homing instinct in you and I as well and I believe it's a homesickness for heaven we long for a place we've never been before or pre-wired that way as we're told in the book of Ecclesiastes God has placed eternity in our hearts and so that's why we're talking about heaven together most Americans by the way believe in the afterlife they believe in a place called heaven Newsweek magazine did an article some time ago called visions of heaven that revealed 76% of Americans believe in heaven and of those 71% believe it's an actual place but after that the agreement breaks down because 19 percent think heaven looks like a garden 13 percent think it looks like a city and 70 percent don't know but they did say even among those who said they didn't believe in it they sneakingly wished there was one well I've got good news there is a heaven it is a place and as a matter of fact the Bible says heaven is a garden heaven is a city heaven is a paradise it's worth no that the Bible doesn't say heaven is like a garden or like a city or like a country it actually describes heaven as those things we need to think more of heaven as a place not a state of mind not some surreal mystical place that we just sort of float around in it's a real place that we are headed to as Jesus said in John 14 I have gone to prepare a place for you you see heaven is not an imitation of Earth but it's really the other way around we often start with earth and reason up toward heaven when we ought to start with heaven and reason back toward earth heaven is the real deal the eternal dwelling place of every follower of Jesus Christ earth is the coffee the temporary dwelling place CS Lewis wrote and I quote all the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of heaven tantalizing glimpses promises never quite fulfilled echoes that died away just as they caught your ear if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy the most probable explanation as I was made for another world Lewis concludes earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy but to arouse to suggest the real thing and quote heaven is the real thing that we long for but questions often arise and we wonder about heaven what will our new bodies in heaven be like for the Bible promises that there is one waiting for us will we know one another when we get there and then really the theme of my message what will we actually do in heaven let's deal with that first question what will our new bodies be like God's going to give you a brand new body but it will not be unrelated to your existing body listen the blueprint for your glorified body is in the body you now possess it's already there the blueprints for our glorified bodies are in the bodies we now possess there will be a section between the Grieg of Earth and the Gregg in heaven you see and the same is true for all of us job said in my flesh I will see God because the Bible promises that these bodies of ours will be resurrected again and so there is a connection between the old and the new heaven is the earthly life of the believer glorified and perfected and when we get there to the other side our minds and our memories will be clearer than they've ever been before first Corinthians 15 says our bodies now disappoint us do I hear an Amen on that but when they are raised they'll be full of glory they're weak now but when they are raised they'll be full of power they are natural human bodies now but when they're raised there will be spiritual bodies now that means in our new bodies will in some ways be the same as our old bodies but at the same time they will be different without question they'll be radically improved no more physical disabilities no signs of age no sinful tendencies Johnnie Erickson tada you've heard of her a courageous young woman who had a diving accident when she was a young girl years ago and the result was she was left as a quadriplegic and Johnnie has sought to take this disability and use it as a platform to glorify God and she wrote a book about heaven called heaven your real home and she talks in her book about the new god bodies that God will give us and I think it's especially poignant when you think about what Johnnie has had to endure here's what she says about our new bodies and I quote from her no more bulging middles or balding tops Thank You Johnny no varicose veins or crow's feet no more cellulite or support hos forget the thunder thighs and the highway hips just a quick leapfrog over the tombstone and it's a body you've always dreamed of fit and trim smooth and sleek and quote well set our new resurrected body will resemble the resurrection body of Jesus Christ you remember that Christ was crucified and he rose again from the dead three days later and we know that after his resurrection he was physical you could touch him he ate fish the Bible says but yet he could appear in a room without using the door and of course he ascended to glory now we wonder will we be able to do the same things well I don't know but the Bible does say in 1st John 3:2 beloved now were the children of God it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know and he's revealed we will be like him for we will see him as he is you're going to receive a new body Jesus even said in John 14 and my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you now sometimes we wonder if that's describing an actual house we'll live in or if it's talking about our new body the word mansion used by Christ and John 14 could be translated dwelling-place so could be a reference to the new glorified body then again maybe it is talking about a house maybe we will live in homes in heaven who can say it reminds me of a story of a New York cab driver who died and went to heaven along with the minister by the way how many of you have ever ridden in a cab in New York City raise your hand okay you know you wondered if you would survive it right they drive fast and crazy all right having said that so the New York cabbie comes up to the pearly gates is greeted by Simon Peter of course who who takes him and says well I'm in charge of housing up here in heaven and I understand that you are a New York cab driver and the man said yes he said will you see that mansion over there in the hill that's all yours so off the New York cab driver went and the minister was feeling really good at this point because he thought to himself now imagine if a New York cab driver gets a mansion what am I gonna get a man who has dedicated his life to the preaching of the gospel so he stepped up and Peter said no I understand that you were a well-known minister on earth yes that's true so will you see that Shack down there in the valley that's yours the minister protested and said no hold on I'm a minister of the gospel why is it that a cabdriver gets a mansion and I get a Shack Peter said well when he drove people prayed but when you preach people slept so that's just a silly joke really but there is a dwelling place waiting for us on the other side Paul writes in second Corinthians five we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down when we die and leave these bodies we will have a home in heaven an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands so we grow weary in our present bodies and we long for the day when we put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing and I ask you do you long for that day do you look forward to the day when you will see the Lord face to face you know life goes by so quickly Billy Graham was asked a while back with the greatest surprise of his life had been and his answer was the brevity of it you know when you're young it seems like life goes on forever I remember when I was in elementary school it seemed like each school day lasted months I remember one of my teachers actually wrote in one of my report cards I still have it Greg spends too much time looking out the window and daydreaming and drawing cartoons he will never amount to anything and that's how I was in school daydreaming looking out the window watching the clock and wondering why it wasn't working but then you get out of elementary school and junior high goes a little bit faster than high school and then adult life and then pretty soon you start remembering decades instead of years and life just flies by and you look in the mirror and you have now officially become an old person I started getting our magazine delivered to my house recently AARP magazine I didn't ask for that I don't want it but someone told me because of my age which is 56 that I now qualify for a discount at the movie theater as a senior citizen and guess what I'm taking advantage of it why not but there there are those telltale signs that you're getting old you know you're getting old when you get winded playing chess that's one of the signs of it you know you're getting old when you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and then you realize you're not wearing any you know you're getting old when your pacemaker accidentally opens the garage door you know you're getting old when you bend over to tie your shoes and you wonder what else you can do while you're down there that's so true isn't it you know you're getting old when you actually look forward to a dull evening at home you know you're getting old when your mind makes commitment your body cannot keep you know you're getting old when someone calls you at nine o'clock in the evening and says did I wake you you know you're getting old when your ears are hairier than your head man see we often think of ourselves as a body that happens to have a soul but the real reality is you're a soul wrapped in a body let me explain the real you is yes your body of course but that thing that gives you spark and personality it's your soul that lives forever in the presence of God that brings us to question number two will we recognize one another in heaven the short answer is yes absolutely why would you think that you would know less in heaven than you know on earth see as I said earlier in heaven were perfected we're glorified in fact it even says in first Corinthians we will know as we are known there'll be no more mysteries no more questions everything will be resolved you will know you will know things when you are there in heaven you will still love your family and your friends in fact it'll be a stronger pure and sweeter love there's no more a break in love them there will be a break in your thoughts death breaks ties on earth but it renews them in heaven and we will be the same people in heaven that we were on earth we don't become a different person I'm still me you're still new but the perfected version of me without the flaws without the shortcomings without the sinful tendencies glorified in the presence of God and we will know all things the scripture says you remember Jesus appeared in the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah now how is it that anyone knew that was Moses and Elijah do you think Moses is standing there with two Commandments you know just hire Moses or recognize these and Elisha is over there call a fire maybe they had little nametags hi my name is Moses you know what you wearing no I don't think so see even in there come being called back from glory momentarily to appear with Christ they were recognizable as we will be when we get to heaven you'll have the same thoughts and feelings and desires that you had on earth but they'll all be perfected you will be you in heaven you remember when Jesus rose from the dead he said to his disciples in Luke 24:39 it is I myself it's me guys not indifferent Jesus the same Jesus in a glorified body but that brings us to the question what will we do in heaven and the reason we ask this is we often have a concept of heaven as well kind of a boring place yours gonna sit around on clouds and strum harps and sleep and to some that might sound really nice yeah it doesn't sound so great to me so it's good news to know that there will actually be activities in heaven one of the things you will be doing in heaven as you will be worshiping you'll be worshiping God and by the way that's why you were created to bring honor and glory to God and I would think that in heaven we would all have perfect voices how many of you have seen this video of this lady in England susan boyle on all of you it on the view tube it's been viewed millions of times it's a TV show in England called Britain's Got Talent and it's somewhat like American Idol though they have other things you can do like dancing and so forth but uh so this woman comes up her name is Susan Boyle she's well how do I put it delicately she's not an attractive woman uh and very little is expected of her in fact when she says she's going to sing a song they're snickering in the audience as though this woman for some reason would not be able to sing well and and then when she begins her selection from Leamas Rob she sings so beautifully the audience the judges are stunned and I suppose in heaven we'll all have beautiful perfect voices no-one will be going sharp or flat will Harmon harmonize perfectly as we sing the praises of God in fact we read in Revelation 15 I saw before me what seemed to be a glassy mixed with fire and on it said all the people who had been victorious over the beast and the number representing his name they were holding harps that God had given to them and they sang the song of Moses a servant of God and the song of the Lamb great and marvelous are your works maybe one of the reasons we can sing without hesitation in heaven is all of our problems are gone all of our conflicts are gone all of our sorrows are gone all of our questions are answered and resolved in one of the reasons we have a hard time worshiping on earth is we're not always in the mood mood worship I have a cold or I have this problem that's troubling me right now so I don't want to sing or we even sometimes become critics of worship well I didn't really like that worship set as much as last week you know I felt it was a little too loud or wasn't loud enough for I don't like that instrument or I like this other instrument you know worship is not something we should critique it's something we should do and something we should do whether we feel like it or not and that's why the Bible talks about the sacrifice of praise because there are times when praise is a sacrifice I don't want to offer it but I offer it anyway because I know that God's in control I know that God loves me and I know that he is worthy of my praise so I offer it up because listen worship is not about you it's all about him and if we can get that in mind when we sing our praises to God it can make all the difference in the world we will worship the Lord when we are in heaven but we will not just worship all the time and sometimes people have this idea that we're just going to lay there on our stomachs worshiping worship well yeah we'll do that but we're also going to be busy we're going to be doing our father's business in heaven the Bible tells us in Revelation 7:15 that we're standing in front of the throne of God serving him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them then later we'll talk about this later when heaven comes to earth and the New Jerusalem we will be very busy and service to the Lord as well but we will be serving God in heaven yes heaven is a place of rest but I can only rest for so long it will also be a place of productivity one wonders what the Lord has in store for us when we get there we wonder if we will be able to finish some of the tasks that remain uncompleted on earth maybe you had dreams that were shattered here that will be fulfilled there sometimes we act as though everything and anything that can be done must be done while we are on earth now of course we do want to make the most of time on earth we don't determine when we are born nor do we determine when we die but we have everything to do with that little dash in the middle how we live our lives but here's what we need to also know is life does not end after life on earth it continues on in heaven because what if a life is limited by disability or illness what if a life is cut short through death and we think well that life was wasted that's unfortunate they never realize their dreams who's to say their dreams cannot be realized on the other side who's to say that God would not complete what he had started on the other side it's frustrating because we meet some people who live long lives that are squandered and wasted sometimes people that live wicked lives and then we see someone with so much promise and ability and gifting and then they die unexpectedly and we think that's so unfair but that's because we're putting all of our thinking into life on earth and not realizing that life goes on listen death for the believer is not the end of life but a continuation of it in another place I repeat again death for the believer is not the end of life but a continuation of it in another place you will live forever don't forget that earth it's like a stopover it's a stopover you know when you book a flight you're going somewhere you have a stopover and I don't like stopovers myself whenever I booked a flight I try to get a direct flight because sometimes doing stopovers things happen bad weather rolls in and you get stuck wherever so I like to get from A to B as quickly as possible but we're in this stopover in this Airport lounge if you will and on the other side for us it's heaven and it'll come sooner than we may realize what else will we do in heaven well I'll tell you one thing we're going to do we're going to eat we're going to eat how many of you like to eat raise your hand good good good how many of you don't like to eat raise your hand get out no you don't have to get out I just don't understand you yes we're going to eat in heaven revelation 19 9 says the angel said bright blessed are they that are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb these are the true words of God I like the fact that the word Supper is used you know here in California we usually refer to that evening meal as dinner in the South they call it supper right get ready for supper wash up for supper I heard this a lot growing up because for a good part of my childhood I was raised by my grandparents Estella and Charles I called my grandmother mom Estella and my grandfather daddy Charles and my grandmother she was from the old school of cooking she mom Estella never saw a TV dinner I she never reheated anything everything was made from scratch every night fresh fried chicken and the best fried chicken you've ever had and then you know the string beans and the black-eyed peas and the okra and the collard greens and all those southern goodies and mashed potatoes made from scratch I might add and then her crowning achievement was the biscuit I actually believed there was an anointing on my grandmother to make this biscuit I've never had one as good since she went to heaven and I'm sure the Lord would employ her abilities in heaven at the supper of the Lamb but we'll also be able to sit down with the great saints of old a Matthew 8:11 says I tell you that they'll come from the east and the West and take their place at the feast with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven I mean can you imagine that sitting at a table Moses excuse me which would you pass the manna Elijah my meats a little undercooked could you get a little extra fire on it hey Locke could you pass the salt low don't be so sensitive lon come on this is original material here folks but imagine being able to pick the brain if you will of a great man or woman of faith you know find out about them talk to Mary about having the Son of God conceived in her womb talk to Moses about seeing the Red Sea parted talk to know about the Ark talk to Shadrach Meshach and Abednego about the fiery furnace did you guys use sunscreen was it talked of Daniel about the Lions then the list goes on how amazing it will be but the the great thing will be be being reunited with loved ones and for me of course that comes back to my son who I miss and I look forward to seeing when Christopher was a little boy and I would carry him around he would point to things and ask me what they weren't because it was very little he didn't say what's that he just said SAP SAP point to a truck that's a truck SAP that's a tree sad that's another tree sap that's a house-sat sad he has said it over and over and over really warming up sad sad sad curious little God when I get to heaven he's been there ahead of me I'll walk up to him and I'll say Sat that's a sea of blasts at SAC well that's an angel dad when do we dinner anytime dad but the main event of heaven is going to be Jesus the main event of heaven is Jesus we long for heaven but really what we're longing for is God himself and Jesus said I will come back and take you to be with me that where I am you may be also Paul said I desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better deal moody wrote and I quote it's not the jeweled walls and pearly gates that are going to make heaven attractive it's being with God God will be there you can ask him anything tell him anything and hear everything that he has to say to you you will have all the time in the world when you get to heaven it's our future home it's a place that we desire the place we longed for we have a homing instinct for it and it's gonna be fantastic you know when I travel I miss home pretty quickly even when I leave California I miss California I you know I've discovered the rest of the country doesn't have a clue when it comes to Mexican food I mean they just ruin it I'm not going to say where but South Dakota um that's the only place I've been recently so you could probably figure that out but and I tried Mexican food two times ah no not even close but I get home and I long for American food if you're overseas you long for your house you long for your bed and certainly you long to see your family we all long for heaven years ago Audio Adrenaline recorded a song called big house about heaven they sang it at one of our Crusades years ago speaking of heaven they saying it's a big big house with lots and lots of room a big big table with lots and lots of food a big big yard where we can play football a big big house it's my father's house Steven Curtis Chapman who is some our Crusades and you all know who he is I had his little daughter Maria died one year ago I remember when we were in New Zealand with Stephen and I had lunch with him and we talked for two and a half hours not about his music career not about any of the things you would think a person who's been successful in that field would talk about all Stephen wanted to talk about was adopting babies from China because he was very involved in that and one little girl he adopted was little Maria and he was able to speed up the adoption process because Maria was born with a hole in her heart and he loved her with all of his heart and she was a member of his family and he had one other young girl he had a doctor from China as well and you're probably aware of the tragic accident when Stephens son accidentally hit the little girl and she was killed and as he was being interviewed on the focus on the family radio broadcast this week by dr. Dobson he talked about that event and he mentioned a postcard that I'd written to him that I never knew he had received it surprised me when I going to mention it and he said that I'd written him and said in this little card that his little girl was going to be much more a part of his future than his past and he said that encouraged him and that was great to hear but he relayed a story that his wife told when little Maria came to his wife Mary Beth and asked her about this place she'd heard about in Sunday school this big big house with lots and lots of food a big big yard and so forth and immediately Maria our excuse me a Mary Beth recognized that little Maria was talking about that audio journal in Sun so she said oh you mean well we will play football yeah mommy that's the place she said well that's a song about heaven and little Maria said well I want to go there and of course mommy said well one day later not anytime soon but the Lord had prepared this little girl and that's where she is now in heaven and that big big house and that big big table I don't know about the football part a why not are you ready heaven is a prepared place for prepared people if I'm going to take a trip I have to book a ticket I don't just walk down on board a plane and in the same way if you want to be sure you're going to heaven you need the ticket you say well how much will it cost well you couldn't afford it but the good news is is Jesus Christ came to this earth and died on the cross for your sin and rose again from the dead in in effect purchased your ticket for eternal life here's how you receive it you just say Lord I accept that gift that you've offered to me I turn from my sin and I put my faith in you and I wonder if you've done that because listen to me now you don't know when life is going to end we all think we're going to live long lives and some of us will in quite frankly some of a swamp so we need to be ready to go the Bible says prepare to meet your God be ready and then you know if the Lord gives you many years fine you'll live them for his glory if he doesn't give you as many years as you'd hope for that's fine because you'll be in glory but the point is you're ready but this is not something you put off and so here's how I want to close today I want to be certain that you're ready to go to heaven and if you're not certain I want to give you that opportunity as we close in prayer if you're listening to this message you need to not have you do not have 100 percent certainty that you will go to heaven when you die or that you would be ready for the Lord's return please respond to this opportunity I will give you to say yes to Jesus Christ let's bow our heads for prayer now father speak to every person hearing this message help them to see their need for you and Lord help them to come to you and receive the forgiveness that you alone offer we ask in Jesus name while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed maybe God has spoken to you and you're not sure right now if you would go to heaven when you die you're not certain that you're ready to meet God but you want to be you want to ask Christ to forgive you your sin you want to be ready to meet the Lord if you want Jesus to come into your life and you want him to forgive you of your sin and you want to go to heaven when you die and you want your guilt removed like Michael Franzese talked about I want you to lift your hand up wherever you're sitting and I'm going to pray for you if you want Christ to come into your life god bless you lift your hand up wherever you're sitting even if you're out in the amphitheater there you lift your hand up if you're up in the court building you lift your hand up now I'm going to ask all of you that have lifted your hand to pray this prayer with me wherever you are out loud and this is a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life pray this Lord Jesus come into my life I know I'm a sinner I've broken your Commandments I've fallen short of your glory but I turn from my sin today and put my faith in you I want to go to heaven when I die and I want to serve you with my life on Earth so I commit myself to you in Jesus name I pray amen god bless each one of you that prayed that prayer you you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 267,048

Rating: 4.7447701 out of 5

Keywords: revelation 15, greg laurie, harvest, essentials, heaven

Id: N_GdtKHfd2I

Length: 35min 35sec (2135 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 03 2009