Who Told You About Heaven? - Part 1

[Music] you guys I don't quite know how to um how to address this morning as we get into this new topic of our series because it's so vast we're going to be spending the next several weeks on this topic but before we do that I'm gonna ask you to stand and open your Bibles to the book of Revelation turn to the book of Revelation as we are continuing on and the who told you serious and we are still in the overriding topic of the end times who told you about the last days or the end times but remember we're gonna be dialing down on that vast umbrella a lot of people push back from that word the last days or the end times that's unfortunate because it's throughout the Bible but what you may not realize is that one of the overriding doctrines of the last days teachings of the Bible is salvation and not only salvation but many other things we looked at their rapture we looked at various things thus far we'll look at many things more but today we begin now is it we're a little series within a series and today we're looking at who told you about heaven and when we talk about heaven what do we mean what does the Bible communicate about heaven or should I say heavens because the Bible says in the beginning for example God created the heaven and the earth out of Genesis chapter 1 but what does that mean does God reside in heaven do birds fly in the heaven as the Bible says were angels traffic and move about it's referred to as heaven or God over I over seas the hosts of heaven what does the Bible mean when it talks about this so I think in the next several weeks we're gonna have some some fun actually and I hope it actually prompts you to worship Revelation chapter 22 again I will read the odd-numbered verses join with me in the even-numbered verses out of the New King James Version of your Bible revelation 22 3 I'll start with the odd-numbered verse verse 3 and there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve Him there shall be no night there they need no lamp nor light of the Sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever verse seven I'll end it here Jesus says behold I am coming quickly blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book father give us ears to hear what your precious spirit would teach us today father if the hearing of this message there's anyone that does not have eternity embossed in their hearts that they have no knowledge of Jesus Christ as Messiah Savior that they have no deep and firm assurance of their salvation that today Lord God that the very delights the considerations the conversation that we enjoy today would become theirs that Lord your spirit would draw not only us who are believers today closer to you but anyone who might be without that today would be the day that they would decide to come with us we hope someday soon to heaven and we ask it in Jesus name and all God's people said Amen well you can be seated Church and will embark today on who told you about heaven and when you hear the word heaven I'm curious what might come to your mind the word heaven is described by us as humans in very many differing ways we might say oh then the meal was heaven or or what was that thing like oh it was like heaven we might dive into a banana split and then make the comment this is heaven what do we mean by that what are we saying when we say such things we're trying to express to the listener something of of sheer delight of something of great pleasure we try to articulate the attributes of something wonderful as being worthy of heaven and so we employ that but better yet listen the Bible when we look up the word heaven in the Bible it is mentioned 327 times in the Old Testament 327 times heaven is mentioned in the Old Testament 255 times in the new so the Old Testament 327 Old Testament 255 that's just the word heaven and so that makes 582 times the word heaven is mentioned in the entire Bible but more than that heaven is either spoken of or referred to in the Bible listen everybody more than 1,000 times and I want to kind of brag about my god regarding that claim regarding that that bit of data the Bible is a book that describes the great need of you and I getting to heaven and then the Bible tells us how to get there is it an amazing that God dwells in heaven and it's the God of heaven who invites you and I to be with him in heaven we'll we'll learn today and in the following weeks that Jesus said I'm going back to heaven to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also God wants you in heaven how many of you want to be in heaven you want to go to heaven I said be in heaven that's like now okay but listen we raise their hands we want to go to heaven we want to be in heaven here's the beautiful thing about that the fact is that God wants you in heaven more than you want to be there there is great truth in saying that you and I have no idea what we're missing when we talk about heaven the Bible tells us just enough for us to want to be there the Bible tells us in a sense really though it mentions heaven a great deal it tells us very little about the details and again we'll learn more about that in a moment as a counterpoint by the way to heaven what do you what do you think would be the opposite of heaven I don't think it is tined if you're gonna say what's the opposite of heaven hell very good and I'm comforted if you if you study how many times heaven appears in the Bible I'm very comforted about the fact that hell is only mentioned 31 times in the Old Testament 23 times in the New Testament equaling 54 times but here's the sobering thing about that Jesus mentions Hell more than any other biblical personality and justifiably so the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth to go to the cross that you and I would escape hell and Jesus warned about Hell more than any other biblical personality so the first thing that we see today as we look at this is the fact that we're asking this question what does God said about heaven and looking away I put it in the first point what has God said about the and it says heaven or heavens in the brackets because there's a reason for this and your note taking jot it down predominantly God speaks about three descriptions of the heavens in plural and so we'll begin in our introduction to look at that but before we begin to dissect it keep this in mind I would like when I think about the heavens of the Bible I like to look at it this way you guys and if this is a blessing to you great if not just forget about it but I like this I like to think of it as we get into this study you're gonna come to this this announcement from God's Word that there is the heaven that is here did you know that the Bible talks about heaven in a word that is here oh pastor do you mean heaven on earth no that's not what I mean the Bible refers to as from sea level up to many thousands of feet even hundreds of miles there is the heaven that you and I dwell in take a deep breath everybody let it out you just inhaled what the Bible describes as heaven it describes an atmospheric realm or region the second one describes that which is up there that's what I call it I I think of the first heaven is that which is here the second heaven refers to that which is up there what do we mean by up there that would be the things where the satellites travel where the stars are at where the years go by the Bible describes that region of heaven being the celestial regions of our observable universe and so that would be the heaven that is up there and then the Bible talks about the the third heaven and that is the heaven that is out of here so it's the here it's the up there and that's the out of here where God is that's what we're living for as believers by the way to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and when we're done to get out of here that's that's what we're living for we can't wait to see Jesus where is he he is there in that heavenly realm and so again the first place that you and I live in is known as the immediate atmosphere or heavens we would say the atmosphere or the atmospheric exposure of who we are as human beings the second the celestial or outer space regions the Sun the Moon the stars and then finally as I said a moment ago the abode it is referred to or the dwelling place of God that world of his I want to work this in just because I love this bumper sticker you know you don't hear it very often but it's very cool and I think it applies to the Christian better than anybody have you ever seen this sticker it says everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die have you seen it I like it I like it so well isn't it kind of slam no not really because for the Christian listen the fact is everybody wants to go to heaven the Christian wants to go to heaven today but nobody wants to die and that that bumper sticker could only ever become true if the rapture would happen for the believer did you know the Christian who's living at the time of the rapture is the only person that is gonna escape death you should say amen to that Oh God come back I don't know about you but I'm not big on dying III think I'm okay with the actual moment of death I've watched people die I've held people in my arms at that last moment and I can tell you for the believer it's pretty awesome it's pretty awesome and for the spectator like myself you know in that last moment when they breathed their last you are absolutely standing on holy ground you can sense it it's awesome but it's the process getting to that it's the valley of the shadow of death that's the part listen those of us who have people friends family members of this church loved ones who are suffering right now and it will lead to death they are right now in the valley of the shadow of death that's something that you don't cross after you die there's not some tightrope you have to walk after death to make it into heaven and you hope you make it through the valley of the shadow of death oh no that valley of the shadow of death that you will pass through is the suffering that leads to that moment of freedom the believer is set free at the moment of death to be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord says the Apostle the moment you close your eyes in this world as a believer in that very next moment you open your eyes and you see the very throne and the very presence of Christ himself it is absolutely awesome for the believer and it is heaven but when we talk about heaven we need to know us Christians and this doctrinal series what do we mean by that and so as we consider this mark it down if you would there is the heaven of the here and now can you write that down there is the heaven of the here-and-now and that would be our immediate heavens or our atmosphere that we're talking about the Bible speaks about the what we would say the first heaven has been this Genesis 1:1 I quoted a moment ago and the Bible says in the beginning notice Bible student God created the heaven and the earth immediately you know from the Bible God you know is eternal he's the Creator so just simple if it was just written in English and not Hebrew it's still clear enough listen in the beginning and the beginning of what well listen this let's play dumb for a second at this hour of the morning it's not hard for me to play dumb in the beginning well whatever we're talking about if God created then he preempts the beginning so he's existing before the beginning so just simple logic demands that whoever he is he's the originator of what began so the question becomes for us when when did creation happen answer in the beginning who's the originator God and what did he do he created the heaven and the earth and we immediately know that the heaven that God created is not his dwelling place that's impossible because where he is by nature and person and in eternity is the ultimate heaven so when the Bible talks about that he created heaven notice it is in the singular and the earth of course here in the singular what is he announcing he's announcing that all that is in the heaven and all that is in the earth God has created and this is precious to us because as we begin to look at this it gets really fun the first thing we realize is that this immediate heaven is Earth's atmosphere and part of the Earth's atmosphere is this thing that we learn about in school as the troposphere many thousands tens of thousands of feets rising upward and the troposphere is a host to a lot of cool action and for example if you get in an airplane oh I wish I had the ability to show you something I can't exactly but let me just do this if you get in an airplane and you take off you are gonna fly in the atmosphere and if you're gonna fly smooth anybody know I don't know if some of our airline captains are here today if they're traveling but the higher you get in an aircraft the smoother the atmosphere becomes because you get further away from weather okay and the stratosphere is where you want to fly but beyond that there's of the atmosphere there are five levels that God has created you see Jack who cares I want you to care because it's very awesome and technical what God has done for us and I want to show you I'm going to show you a picture of these atmospheres or the the division of the atmosphere so let's look at this first picture is this glorious this is an actual photograph taken by the International Space Station of the what are we looking at we're looking at the Space Shuttle I forget which one it is it's in my notes this should be the Endeavour this is the Endeavour that is silhouetted against the Earth's atmosphere and in that again is the troposphere the stratosphere mesosphere and again there's five in total but I know it's kind of hard to look at but imagine rotating this photograph to the right so that the shuttle is pointing straight up to the top of the screen or north you see those bands do you see the orange band by the way and you can see the various levels you're looking at aspects of the Earth's atmosphere all of this created by God and referred to in Scripture listen skeptics of the Bible unbeliever leave it on the screen there are there are people who think they cannot become a Christian because they've been educated which I find to be incredibly foolish and self glorifying what has really happened to you if you think you've become a crit if you think you've become so educated that you can't become a Christian the truth is you've educated yourself beyond your intelligence that's what's happened to you you've become a legend in your own mind the book of Romans says professing yourself to become wise you've become a fool see well how can you see insulting this morning oh just just listen calm down I'm just getting started listen here's the deal thousands and thousands of years ago the Bible tells us and gives us very very specific scientific description of the very layers of the atmosphere that God has engineered to protect this earth and he talks about them in in various levels and he mentions them for example a time of creation even at the time after creation after the fall that he speaks about the waters of the atmosphere and the layers and God's established these things speaks about them the psalmist writes he speaks about these things the Apostles speak about these things the prophets speak about these things and it's not just some religious talk the very words that are used in the original language of the Bible predominantly the Hebrew and the Greek are shocking to those who will make inquiry to find out that the very words that we're mentioning have their root in Scripture and are you going to tell me today that what we're looking at just happens to be an accident and Sir Isaac Newton's wrong are you going to tell me that the great founding fathers of science are wrong who were believers in God no we want to be careful that when we look at what the Bible has to say and what God has created Christian take great comfort in knowing that they'll never contradict each other the author of both cannot fool himself the creation and the word are one and they speak in perfect harmony it's absolutely remarkable and so as God begins to show us his great word keep this in mind that as this shuttle as we see flying about and transverse it's a remarkable thing that it leaves the the grip of Earth and it goes throughout space and comes back home it's just it's just brilliant so when you think about that you know what travels up there the shuttle I wrote down of course the satellites make their way up there unfortunately this week Kim Jong Un's nuclear ICBMs can travel up there just ask Japan this week concerns everybody but we're talking about a hundred to two hundred miles high God has established the heavens that's in Genesis 1 that is the heaven he's talking about same with David in Psalm chapter 19 I love this in Psalm 19 everybody this is so cool in Psalm 19 the Bible says this the heavens notice now it's plural the heavens declare the glory of God what does he mean we'll march through this together all that is seen from your nose upward declares the glory of God says the Bible stop for a moment is that not true atheist is it not true I don't believe in God but look do you not would you not entertain the fact that it is glory us out there would you would you please entertain this challenge that it is exact and finely tuned that it is so specific and so perfect that for example what are we birth from the Sun 93 million miles is that about right okay if we're 5,000 miles or 2,500 miles to close we burn up if we're 2,500 miles 20 less than the distance from here to New York if we're if we're further out we freeze to death wouldn't it evolution get that right how did it an accident dial that in just perfect know the heavens declare the glory of God so says the Bible and the firmament shows his handiwork what is that all about what we talked about the firmament this is precious it's announcing the fact that what he's woven the firmament it's not only the the atmosphere in which birds and all traverse but it is that glorious revelation of God's creative acts in the Stellar's but we'll keep going through this verse but we'll look at these things more watch what he says day and today uh terse speech according to God in the Bible I love this listen that God's creative heavens speak you see no way you're freaking me out here okay yeah sort of I am but check this out I find it I should have gotten a picture of this you can look at it later do you know what a radio telescope is have you ever seen some of those telescopes that the United States has built in various parts of the world and you know what they're doing us SETI is one of them and you know yeah you know we've built we spent billions of dollars to listen it says for any intelligent life out there oh don't laugh you paid for it and we send out a signal and we wait for somebody to answer back I'm not kidding anybody out there and we wait we have heard anything yet but we've been waiting for decades okay and you can look this up later there's a scope you can actually go to this the thing and watch the scope if you want to waste time watch wait for according to God the created heavens are speaking I don't think they're gonna see it on a scope I'd love for them I'd love to see some guys sitting there with headphones and God says boo hey how you doing he's not gonna do that because he's listen he's speaking it means that listen it means that you and I who have been created in the image of God we have brains we're supposed to use them and as we look at his creation it's not an audible shout that God speaks it is this revelation of information in the human heart in mind that God has done it did you know that creation is speaking the heavens are declaring the glory of God the firmament is uttering proclaiming speaking that God is the creator so when we talk about who told you about heaven we need to tell people well what do you mean or ask them what do you mean because my Bible says God created the atmosphere from my nose up to the starry sky and beyond so what do you want to talk about oh my friend did you know that when you look at the heavens the natural natural logical reasonable response should be Wow God you're awesome no matter who you might be in the world no matter where you're at there is this revelation by the Holy Spirit inside of the human being who's been created by the image of God to be curious about who created this not what you've got to work hard to try to explain God out of creation and what a terrible terrible lie that is for you to perpetrate on yourself it's certainly intellectually dishonest and it's certainly not a science if I had the faith of evolutionist I would be able to walk on the water out there across the the fountain that's huge faith to look at all the intricate design that you and I see in this world and then come to the conclusion that it was a grand result of a grander accident my friends nothing ordered comes out of an accident and that is a lawful thing to say when I say lawful that is the law of entropy the second law of thermodynamics everything goes from an ordered state to a chaotic state everything look at you look at me you and I looked a lot better last year than we do this year ok did you buy a car it's already falling apart it's better best I just got it last month it's almost a piece of junk by now have you noticed that when you screw something in it unscrews itself over time no have you thought about that you said who unscrewed those things nobody it does it itself because everything's falling apart that is a law of science nothing puts itself back together God is the engineer God is the designer I'm still in psalm 19 oh my goodness we need to I mean you're fine I need to hurry up we've got a big day ahead of us and night on tonight reveals knowledge there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard I I believe that I don't understand it I just believe that their line has gone out through the or through all the earth and their words to the end of the world in them he has set the tabernacle for the Sun which is like a bridegroom coming out of this chamber that's very cute language huh well when a guy's about ready to get married he the door flies open he's ready to go where is she the Bible says the Sun comes up like that here I come and rejoices like a strong man to run its race it's rising us from one end of Kevin and it's circuit to the other and there is nothing hidden from its heats listen listen to this in Psalm 19 the word heaven you might want to circle this now and and you entertain this ancient Hebrew word Shama heme it means both the visible and Beyond sky the word means that which is aloft from the immediate atmosphere belonging to the foggy air I like the fact that right now this morning a rarity is happening today our invisible air the dew point has reached a close enough level to the temperature - what do we have going on outside we've got mist in the air your car had mist it's not raining but the invisible molecules to our naked eye have reached the dew point level to where it's formed water molecules around it and it's landed on your head or on your car and that's a beautiful I thank God for helping me in this because the word that you actually observed and felt atmosphere this morning that's part of the heavens it's not amazing the word also means the immediate presence or air around has continued upward to the celestial lights or the Stars or what we would call the bodies we could even call space and that would encompass from against sea level to the farthest observable star when he says the heavens have you looked at them have you considered them in Genesis chapter 1 verse 20 the Bible says then God said let the waters listen to this you saw it a moment ago from the International Space Station let the water is abound with the abundance of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens a segment of or a region of the area that I've made God is saying of the heavens okay so what does that look like we're gonna we're gonna have some fun I I just can't teach this with all words we have to look at these things right so look at the first picture of this this is what the Bible is talking about my goodness by the way I don't know about you if you've been with us and real we don't see storks around here those are storks but have you ever seen then you never see the storybooks where the big stork is in Holland and he's on the roof carrying the baby right and he's got his nest you know those actual historic s-- they migrate from Holland from that part of the world in the winter they go down to Africa and they they fly down the chant Transjordan rift and one of their layover stops is in the Galilee of Israel and we've all been twice I wish I could say we've all been there I want all of you to go we've been there we've seen so many hundreds and hundreds of storks because we go there most often in the springtime and this is exactly what it looks in the air and then when they land those things are about that tall they're terrifying and in size but God says yep I've made the air for them to travel in and they know that that's why they fly in a V isn't it amazing how God tells them that you guys got a long flight ahead of you you'll never make it if you guys just do it all on your own I'm paraphrasing both Bible and science right now God tells them however he tells them I don't know but it God says to them you need to fly in a V and when you get pooped out out front I want you to go back to the back and the next guy steps up and when you get pooped out then you go to the back and the next guy moves up and by doing that you'll be able to fly all over the world we're watching this right now I was at my daughter's house the other day and she lives in East Vail and it seems a little early for me but what do I know God must have told the Canadian geese to get on down to Southern California for the winter cuz they're already arriving you can hear them honking flying overhead right here it's amazing this is the atmosphere that God says that he's created the heavens and the earth or the heaven and the earth the next one we have to give God glory and honor and look at that that is absolutely awesome the American bald eagle I'm so glad that is our national symbol I am so glad that Benj Benjamin Franklin's idea didn't make it remember to you guys remember what Benjamin Franklin's idea was for our national bird the turkey I love Benny's a genius I think he's still the record holder of patents owned but that was a bad idea to have a turkey instead of an eagle and then the next one is is those migratory Canadian geese that you'll see here are you're seen here already who does this God does this God does this he puts it in them and he says this is the heavens this is the atmosphere in which we we live in and there's evidence there's design purpose functionality all of this of what God has said in the immediate heavens God says I've made this and I just want to give you this as an argument to your unbelieving friends and family you can challenge them without even opening your Bible to consider the heavens ask your friends let's talk about that and all that God is engineered into this I didn't put this on my notes but you can throw this in I might mess up the name of this bird I could be confused but the the truth of what this one bird does is true nonetheless I think it's the golden say it again with a beer pee-pee plumber the golden plumber this is awesome the bird the bird lives a nap in Alaska and husband and wife bird get together and they make eggs and the eggs are laid and they sit on those eggs and then mom and dad like any mom and dad that's just fed up sitting around and the weather starts changing and they're saying it's getting cold in Alaska let's leave they leave the nest with the babies the babies are there they're now getting fat enough and plump enough and and mom and dad say catch you later and they start flying south and you know where they land Hawaii and they spend the winter in Hawaii here's the funny thing four weeks later the babies that have been hatched they say you know what this weather does snake mom and dad does turn out to be they do turn out to be right after all in and the babies leave guess where they go they go to Hawaii my question to you how do they know to go to Hawaii exactly there's no explanation for that it's instinct okay who gave them the instinct you see come on well that is one of the mysteries of of evolution well let me ask you this it's real simple you possess at least possibly one your eyeball maybe you're a pirate and you have an eyeball this morning let me ask you something when did evolution say you know what that's just about perfect let's let's we've developed it to the point that's it let's leave it right there let's go with two of them now how do you develop two eyeballs in tandem simultaneously I'm doing this because you know they tell us that the the the salamander thing rubbed its face with its paddles until it developed eyes I'm telling you you got to have faith I don't have I don't have that kind of face when does the woodpecker oh I'm then blowing this study today hasn't it when does the woodpecker uh there are certain breeds of wind woodpeckers and forgive me for being off I haven't I didn't study woodpeckers this week I'm sorry but I'm close okay the woodpecker what does it do it pecks on wood you know what it does it doesn't care if it's an oak tree or whatever it just just digs in there goes goes and finds a nut and stuffs it in the hole that I made and it's gonna use it later right did you know that the tongue inside the woodpecker the tongue in the woodpecker goes up into its cranium and wraps around its brain about eight or nine times did you know that when the woodpecker hits the wood that the tongue flexes and it causes the brain to move inside the skull but the tongue that's wrapped around the brain decelerates at impact so that the woodpecker doesn't kill itself when it hits the tree did you know that if it was one less wrapping the wood pepper would kill itself instantly by impact did you know that did you know if it was one wrap further that there would that the brain would strangle by virtue of the power of the tongue around the brain when did evolution say that's that's enough tongue for me right there that's perfect when did this happen how did this happen is that amazing he is amazing God did that God did that and then just for fun God throughout and to the to the evolution as God said I think I just said you know what I'm just I see some coming down the road in the future I'm just gonna I'm gonna create this thing and I'm sure the Angels went what I wonder what Adam oh no what Adam did when he walked up and he said what is that that's a platypus that is the freakiest thing on the planet God does this stuff and I'm way out of bounds on where I was going on this but the next thing we want to look at is the fact of the the celestial heavens so God has made all that there is how should that comfort us listen what should be the result of the creation nature that we see at our immediate fingertips listen church it should be worship worship what should be the overriding impact of this topic in our lives as we look at the various descriptions of the heavens Christian is someone who must worship God you will either worship God or you're gonna go worship creation it will be one or the other you will listen for all of those who reject the worship of God they fill the void and they worship creation so for us the believer we should worship and praise God when we look at science when we look at his creation and as we look at the immediate heavens secondly we look at the celestial heavens the Bible says in first chronicles 16 26 for all the gods of the nations are idols you know carved idols we're setting them about them in Isaiah but the Lord made the heavens I mean come on look at look at this idols the Lord God Creator which one's yours who's yours which God is your gut you're gonna have one or the other one you carve with your own a co2 do anymore and I thought I thought you know someone's gonna think I don't do that I don't believe in the God of the Bible but I don't have idols and I thought about this inside this little piece of leather now this is my wallet not big right it doesn't have to be big because my I don't have cash ever so watch this okay so this is my okay here's my little debit card okay so what was that doing anything as a Christian I can use this to my benefit in fact I can use I can actually use this to make money if I'm smart enough are you with me this doesn't have to abuse me I can use it to my benefit all depends on what I do with it I'm either gonna work for it or it's gonna work for me it's a choice I made right so as a believer I didn't I have chosen to have it work for me so what does that mean well it means that I'm gonna exercise this in a way that is good stewardship before God because God's watching on the flip side you would say I don't have an idol in my life and I don't believe in your God and I don't have idols I'm not a religious person then listen when life gets tough or you get scared or things press in or things begin to panic or something happens what are you doing listen you buy something you pay for something you answer it this way you respond by trusting in this listen you can use this to your benefit or listen it actually subtly can use you in the sense that you start to trust in this and listen just a little tip just a little bit of advice when you begin to trust in this this God will always take you into slavery idols will always take you into servitude okay I may be I may be ugly but I'm not dumb I am NOT gonna use something that is not gonna pay me back this thing left on its own will do everything possible to destroy you because it's a modern-day Idol if we make it it can be your car it can be your degree it can be your influence it can be your money it can be your power it can be whatever it is be very very careful Church there are the gods of the idols they're carved out of human hands but they can't do anything nor have they created anything in fact they destroy and God says I'm the God who creates on the god of the heavens Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 6 this is an awesome verse watch this catch this Nehemiah 9 verse 6 you alone are the Lord Yahweh yah that's his name you alone or Yahweh you have made heaven notice the heaven of heavens with all their hosts you've not only made the air on the other side of my nose but you've made the starry sky look he goes on the earth and everything in it the Seas and all that is in them and you preserve them all the hosts of heaven worships you I don't know how that plays out I know angels do but how is it that even nature in the are you guys okay you know in the Book of Isaiah and the Millenium when Christ comes back and establishes his kingdom the Bible says that the trees of the fields will clap their hands you see those ridiculous trees don't have hands of course they don't have hands but listen when the wind blows have you ever heard a tree clap have you noticed what it does to you by the way when a nice wind comes and hits I've big sycamore is in my backyard and you know those leaves can get that big they're giant and when the wind blows man they they just sound just the rustle of them causes you to look up God says that creation by whatever form I don't get it I don't understand that language but God says creation worships him so look let's take a a peek at some of these celestial wonders this is from JPL and I just want you to look at it obviously there's this is a from Jet Propulsion Laboratory this is real this is not cartoon this is real and the Bible says again remember the heavens declare the glory of God next slide again Pasadena JPL isn't Allison does that affect you at all it caught you don't then you know I don't know about you it depends on where we're all at at any given point in time I look at that and for some reason in my twisted little brain cartoon head I think of two things immediately number one I shouldn't have to worry about anything if he can do that I shouldn't worry about anything next thought I had was to me I could have lifted this I could have showed you a piece of granite or marble that's been taken out of the center of the earth you know some of you have granite tables or marble tables and givers have you ever got up really close and looked at them it hello I'm being sarcastic right now it looks like the same architect and designer that made the incredible patterns in the marble and granite is the same one that did that mm-hmm it's the same one it's the same one let's look again next slide oh man this is real this is not fake this is from the Hubble now we got something even better than the Hubble it's gonna be this new one's probably gonna get the picture of God out there or something but this is this is from the old Hubble remarkable god at work this is from the next one is from Magellan looking at the m43 this is real God says I did that you like it I did that and now and I'm wondering about tomorrow I'm all concerned about next Tuesday and God says will you just calm down and look at the heavens I got it covered Jack next one is another one from Pasadena JPL this is fun you getting ready for this when some of you already know where I'm going you've already seen this this is not a Christian this is from JPL x marks the spot for Milky Way formation wait listen X see you see that see X x marks the spot for Mel keyway formation you know you and I live in the Milky Way that's our home we live kind of out on what it's called Orion's arm on the end of the Milky Way galaxy we're on the end out there very close to the end that's where you're at this is us look at that see those the two wings I forget which one you're at but you're at near the end end of one of those two wings next slide so again x marks the center ok listen X the discovery of X it's relatively new the discovery of X is at the center of the Milky Way galaxy we're again class where do you live you live in the Milky Way galaxy what's the center of the Milky Way galaxy they're calling it the X structure the X structure you want to see a real photograph of the X structure this is not a joke this is not a joke look it up later go to NASA JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena type in X structure Milky Way galaxy X structure this is the center of our existence this they have they literally when you go I read it all this weekend go and read it they actually had a problem naming at the X structure they said there's we can't call it it just got to be called X structure is that an X I hope you're thinking that's baloney the wise it is a it's a engineering project the wise image of the Milky Way bulge shows that the X shaped nature of the Milky Way bulge is self-evident and irrefutable when you read it and it's in its entirety I thought it's he didn't say anything more than that right there it's like what writing in a paper published this week in the astronomical journal quote the X shape morphology of the Bulge in itself and the fraction of bulge stars that comprised orbits within this structure has important implications regarding the history I underlined history of the Milky Way and all other spiral galaxies in general professor Luke Davies of the International Centre for radio astronomy research said the data was reasonably compelling you can clearly see the structure is there whether or not there is a true X shaped structure at the centre of the Milky Way is under consideration and when I read that I said there is no way that there's an X shaped structure in the centre of the Milky Way galaxy it's a perfect cross I find that hilarious but yet you can read this again the next slide in his book God and the astronomers NASA astrophysicists and former director of the Goddard Space Center dr. Robert Jastrow wrote and I quote him and you can see the quote on the screen for the scientist who has lived by his faith and the power of reason the story ends like a bad dream he has scaled the mountains of ignorance he is about to conquer the highest peak he pulls himself over the final rock he's greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries ha ha ha oh that's awesome the heavens declare the glory of God that's a keeper man you want to hang on to that one that's awesome the celestial heavens friends should lead you and I like the atmosphere that's before our very should lead us in worship to God I'm gonna go through a bunch of scriptures and then we're gonna come to an end Psalm chapter 8 verse 3 listen let this now let this humble you let just wash over you Psalm 8 verse 3 when I consider your heavens in the work of your hands or your fingers and the moon and the stars which you have ordained what is man that you're mindful of him is it awesome as awesome as these things appear on this screen and the sanctuary it's nothing compared to the reality of all and God says you're more important than all that I love you more I God never says he loves stars I love galaxies god never says oh I love constellations God says I love you he didn't die for those things he died for you you think you got oh I got problems let the one who was steering the Milky Way and if that wasn't enough stamp that cross right in the middle of it tell you I got you covered Psalm 147 verse for someone 47 verse 4 he counts the number of the stars and he calls them by name job 38 at job's expense I'm sorry for job but God rebuked him so many times but I love it because I learned so much from his classroom job 38 verse 31 God says to job can you direct the movement of the Stars we didn't even know what listen job's the oldest book in the Bible wouldn't even know that stars moved we didn't know astrophysics Astro mechanics binding the cluster of the Pleiades I didn't know that Pleiades were clustered and yet then they have to be bound no one can figure this one out oh yes we can't pastor you're wrong it's bound by orbital powers orbital mechanics you didn't tell me nothing listen science can tell me how things work they can't tell me why what's the purpose of science you can't answer that I can the purpose of science is to give glory to God that's its purpose don't don't get me wrong you genius you can tell me how it works and I appreciate it I want to know tell me how it works when you're done I'll tell you why God speaks to job and he says or loosen the cords of Orion can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the bear the constellation and her Cubs across the heavens do you know the laws of the universe job can you use them to regulate the earth oldest book in the Bible says that the starry heavens around us regulates the earth then we find out that's exactly true in fact today we have a baptism down at the beach you know why the time of the baptism is what it is at what time because of high tide we had to decide when to do our baptism because the Moon the Stars regulate the earth is that awesome I love it maybe it's me I just love it Isaiah 37 16 the Lord of hosts the God of Israel the one who dwells between the cherubim you are God you alone and all the kingdoms of the earth you have made heaven and earth Hebrews 1 verse 10 and you Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands amen Wow we'll end with this regarding this magnificent creation that we see there's coming today there's coming today that in Matthew chapter 24 verse 29 the Creator the master astronomer architect designer God he's going to intervene again ladies and gentlemen and in Matthew 24:29 the Bible says immediately after after during the tribulation of those days after the seven-year tribulation period is over what's going to happen everybody look the Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light the Stars will fall from heaven that's the atmosphere that's that celestial world and the powers of the heavens that's a radical statement Church the celestial and this immediate atmosphere heavens will be shaken the powers of the heavens will be shaken no one knows what that's going to be like then this then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven in the atmosphere and then the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory wow this is our God so today listen as we get in future a weekends into this study it should prompt a worship and praise I'm gonna ask the worship team to come out but next week we're gonna be looking at some of these things what listen these are the questions asked predominantly most questions asked and we're gonna Lord willing to answer them what's heaven going to be like that's a good question you can stand by the way what's heaven gonna be like don't you want to know what can we know about it questions are asked where will heaven be for all eternity that's a good question how old will we be in heaven that's a great question I believe the Bible answers that will we know each other in heaven somebody asked dr. Ironside that he said why would you be dumb or here or why would you be dumber in heaven than you are here of course we're gonna know one another in heaven we're gonna look into the question of what will we be doing in heaven someone asks the question will my husband be in heaven I don't know if your husband will be in heaven and then the most question asked is of course it's the most question as well my dog be in heaven well my don't know about your husband but your dog will definitely be in heaven okay just kidding but listen well the question is will you be in heaven that's the question will you be in heaven Jesus Christ died on the cross paid the price for your sin and mine to wash us clean that we might as it were in a sense get our heaven suit on he bought it he wants you to put it on it's free cost him everything but by his death on the cross he washed you clean that if you accept him and his offer of salvation you'd have that eternal life and you'll see face to face this God [Music]

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

Views: 13,899

Rating: 4.9011235 out of 5

Keywords: Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, Real Life with Jack Hibbs, Real Life, Development, Preparation, Maturity, Discipleship, Basic Christianity, Christianity, Doctrine

Id: vlWTrUHezu8

Length: 55min 56sec (3356 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 20 2017