Who Told You About Heaven? - Part 2

[Music] and I asked you to stand if you would and open up your Bibles to Revelation chapter 22 Revelation chapter 22 and we're looking at verse 1 down to verse 5 as we'll read it together I again I will read the odd-numbered verses join in the even-numbered verses Revelation chapter 22 out of the New King James Version Bible revelation 22 and he showed me a pure river of water of life clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb 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 and I will end with verse five 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 and so father we pray today that by the power of your Holy Spirit you would be our instructor and father God that as we leave this church building today that we would transform the world that we come in contact with for those of us who trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we will be those who will carry the message of heaven to those who we work with to those who we live with and so god we pray that more than ever as we look around at the world that seems to be unhinged let us Lord look at it rightly it's nothing's unhinged everything's falling right into place because you're on the throne and we thank you Lord God and we praise you in Jesus name and all God's people said amen you can be seated and as I said earlier we're looking in our series right now who told you about heaven if you're visiting Calvary for the first time today we have broken away from our chapter by chapter verse by verse study of the books of the Bible to go into this discipleship as it were topical series for a season and we're looking at issues of the Bible that are important that we better get under our belt of understanding that as Christians in the world that we live in right now we need to be able to not only say what we believe but be able to defend it with a reasonable answer we need to be able to answer people for the hope that we have within us there's the French philosopher Jules Renard who says on earth there is no heaven but there are pieces of it I want you to think about that statement for a moment that there is no heaven on earth but he says in his statement that there are pieces of it and I like that I'm not exactly sure what he meant by it but this is how I understand his statement when you look around the world by the way did you know this week did you see mammoth for example Lake Tahoe did you see the Sierra Mountains did you see what happened a feet of snow fell right here in the middle of September up in the Sierra it's gorgeous it's beautiful it's blanketed when you look at those things of creation the beauty of that I understand then what he is saying there is no heaven on this earth but there are pieces of it there are the things that God reveals that should cause us to worship God and and frankly to be in awe of God and we looked last time as we began to look at these issues of heaven that when the Bible talks about heaven we have to be very careful what we're talking about we have to read the Bible carefully because there are aspects of heaven and so last time we asked that question of what has God said about heaven and we definitely included in the parentheses s plural heavens because the Bible teaches us as we saw that there is the heaven that is the here and now the heaven that you and I breathe the heaven that we see the atmosphere where birds are flying and we understood that in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 that that's exactly what God was saying that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and that's the heaven that's most immediate that we relate to and we learn from that the heavens that are the here-and-now heavens should result or prompt within our lives worship everything by the way alright this is not an overstatement this is not an exaggeration everything that God has created I believe should cause us to be prompted to worship whatever a man creates I'm not exactly sure whatever God creates I am definitely positive it is awesome and that God who's created the heaven and the earth and my opinion has left his fingerprints on a scientific level everywhere and we would be in awe of him and then the second thing we saw last time was that the god that he is that has created the heavens and the earth has also created the celestial heavens that's what we would call the second heaven the second heaven would be where the stars are at where the satellites travel was we would just say affectionately space and but that's a vast region that goes out so beyond we are still mapping it remember I told you last week that the Bible says that God holds the universe and technically it's the cosmos plural it's hard to say how do you say this cosmoses the universes in the span of his hand now that is poetic language he doesn't have a hand that's that big but God is that big to where there is nothing listen there is nothing beyond his creation he governs it all isn't that great I love that about him God doesn't look at the Grand Canyon and say wow isn't that big you and I do that God looks at the Grand Canyon and says I hope they think that's cool I hope they understand that that's a little glimpse of the power of my creative works God is truly awesome and we learned about the celestial heavens out of that fantastic passage of scripture and Psalm 19 verse 1 I'll just remind you of that first verse that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork and we broke that down that the heavens are speaking the atmosphere the Stars all that God has made is perpetually announcing that it is of an engineer it is of a designer it is of logic and reason that everything is so fine-tuned that the slightest disruption has a repercussion as it were throughout the entire created universe and so today church here's here's where we pick it up regarding the question who told you about heaven well the Bible says God has told us about heaven and I want to stress that today because now we look at what we refer to as the kingdom of heaven can you write that down the kingdom of heaven now this is a little bit of a diversion this way we talked about what we would call the first heaven but God created last week we talked about the second heaven that is the stellar the space the the cosmos and then we would naturally go to what is referred to by Paul the Apostle as the third heaven we'll hear more about this today the third heaven is the abode or the dwelling place of God when you think about heaven that's what you think about you think about that and I agree with you but we're gonna make a little bit of a diversion before we land there today and we're talking about what is referred to as the kingdom of heaven and if you're notetaker I need you to write that down it's very important by the way Bible students this is important the kingdom of heaven the Bible talks about the kingdom of heaven and the Bible talks about the kingdom of God right yo you've all read that we'll see in a moment just know this that in the original language the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God mean the exact same thing they're interchangeable they completely dove tail together when you find the kingdom of God their present is the kingdom of heaven when you find the kingdom of heaven you find their present the kingdom of God case in point Matthew chapter 19 verse 23 then jesus said to his disciples assuredly I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven verse 24 again I say to you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of what God he uses them to speak about the exact same thing what is we asked the question this kingdom of God or this kingdom of heaven and the Bible teaches us that it is God's rule God's Authority God's kingdom in the believer mark that down this is awesome there is the heaven that he has made there is the heaven that is space travel there's the heaven that you and I will eventually dwell in forever but the Bible says that there is the kingdom of God the kingdom of heaven that is available to be within you and this should cause every Christian to set up and to take notice that there's something very very holy taking place regarding our relationship with God we very much underestimate who we are in Christ we have made things common and that's a tragedy in a very real technical sense Jesus Christ is saying that the kingdom of God is present wherever the Holy Spirit is in the life of a believer number 2 wherever Jesus Christ was walking on earth at any given moment he would often say in the New Testament as you read it challenging the listeners the kingdom of God is at hand what did he mean by that he meant that when he was walking into Capernaum or Caesarea the kingdom he was ushering it in wherever Christ was listen everybody wherever he was in a very real way the kingdom of God was not only being represented by him the kingdom of God had arrived that's purely biblical speaking but boy is it radical did we miss it so listen what I want to be careful today because I'm not gonna I'm not here to promote some bizarro doctrine you know me I'm not that I'm not that kind of a Bible teacher but I want to build you up this morning safely look you and I suffer you and I have difficulties you and I are in the process of being sanctified and in a in a work by the Holy Spirit but let us let's all remember that the kingdom of God dwells within every believer because the Holy Spirit resides in you you are marked and stamped by the salvation of Christ himself and wherever you go today wherever I go as Jesus walked into a village so you and I walk into our community and if anybody brings grace and mercy forgiveness conviction righteousness holiness into a community it's you there is a divine appointed call upon the believers life that should cause us all to just sit up and say God thank you for this amazing calling upon my life God just didn't call you to get you into heaven that's your destination that's your retirement that's the promise that's going to happen but what's going on with you in route to heaven because you are going to heaven what does God want to do with you he wants to use you John came up here a moment ago and encourage you to be used by the Gideons to join with them to get the Word of God to the end of the earth that's doing something with your salvation you don't do it to get saved you do it because you are saved what an opportunity that Christ invites us to get involved so you think about that in a moment not in a moment in about 40 minutes you're going to be released from this place if you're lucky and you're gonna get out into the world and you are going to be Christ bearers it is a tremendous call and we need to take that more seriously the fact of the matter is that the Kingdom of Heaven the kingdom of God Jesus has commanded us to preach here's the question if Jesus Christ said that the kingdom of God is with you or within you then are we not taking the person of Christ as it were everywhere we go you know listen I met a beautiful young cup I didn't meet them for the first time I had a meeting with them they attend church here and I remember meeting them in the foyer and I gotta tell you I don't usually do this but in my mind I said to myself this this couple is special there's just there's an anointing on their lives and I don't usually think or talk like that and I had a meeting with them this last week and I told them I said I don't I don't know if I've ever said this to anybody before but I gotta tell you you guys need to very very carefully beautifully but carefully conduct your Christian walk is there beautiful believers and I just said you need to maintain that because let this go to your heart and not your head but God has an anointing on your life and that's not and for without a purpose so the two of you need to find out what that is both of them are studying to be doctors and we'll see what God has in store for them but you could sense that and wherever you go people are gonna sense the fact that there's something different with them they may not be able to say oh my goodness look at you the kingdom of God is within you no but they might say you know what I was talking to you and I felt encouraged or I was speaking to you and I did something's different you seem to have looked right through me you seemed to there was a sense I had that maybe you know I'm saying that's the Holy Spirit working in your life because now listen you're possessed by the Holy Spirit and that's a good thing you think about who we are in this world in Luke chapter 17 verse 20 the Bible says now when he Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come he answered and said to them the kingdom of God does not come with observation okay everybody said the kingdom of God was going to come yesterday September 23rd Jesus says not that's not what I'm talking about nor will they say see here or see there for indeed the kingdom of God is within you jesus said that two thousand years ago it's been true for two thousand years it's true today there is a day coming when Christ will call rapture up the church out of this world our witness will be complete I get that part but Jesus said listen in fact think about the priority of this we want to jump ahead to let's learn about the heaven that we're gonna live in forever but wait a minute how you going to get there you want to get there great I agree with you I got but listen for those of you who are not aware how do you get there I just heard a poll recently well I read it yesterday seventy-four percent of Americans believe that there's an actual heaven but out of the 74 percent that believe that there's an actual heaven there's four percent that were confident that they were going there so if there's only four percent that were confident of going there then what about the bulk of the percentage that's not sure if they're going I would be terrified if I was in that group because listen this is this is the American version oh it's it's heaven it's heaven and either a everybody gets to go cuz everybody gets a trophy or some people get to go but no worries because there can't be a hell so what does it matter if I believe in God or not we all know there just can't be a hell but why can't there be a hell jesus said there was when you say you're saved think about it what are you saying by the way how many you are saved okay put your hands down if I were to ask you individually would you be able to tell me what you're saved from if you can't tell me what you're saved from then how can you be saved what are you saved from the Bible says Christ saved us from hell and the punishment of hell and death and the grave but he didn't listen he didn't only do that he wrapped us in his holiness he forgave us our sins and he made us acceptable to heaven we're going to heaven if your trust in Christ and that's glorious news know Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is in you and do you know that today that the kingdom of heaven is within you there is the coming reality of heaven but our human ability is limited to be able to imagine that I understand that it's it's embarrassing if you think about it we we as humans we design and develop so many wonderful things I get that true story okay humans can develop amazing things no doubt about it a word to the wise when you pay to get a Universal Studios ticket in Hollywood and you going on the tour don't do what I did in one of the rides where you get on there you're supposed to wear 3d glasses now I had glasses I had my sunglasses they handed me 3d glasses thinking I just never thought that I had my glasses in my hand that I needed to wear for the ride I had my other glasses on I entered the ride with everybody else everyone's screaming everyone's hooting and hollering and I'm thinking what is this is this a joke this is ridiculous this is the jaw want my money back they get out on the other end and everybody's freaking out and so happy about how cool it was and I I didn't get it I didn't get it what is the deal and they're looking at me and I got my 3d glasses in my hand with my other glasses on my eyes I went through the ride with the wrong glasses on I was the bozo I couldn't see any of the technological wonders I was looking with the wrong eyes my eyes weren't fitted for them for the miracle of what they do there in Hollywood so I missed it and we can be all around this world looking at trees looking at butterflies looking at whatever's going on and we could miss it because we're not looking at creation with the right eyes we're not looking at the fact that heaven is coming and we're not looking at the fact that you know what listen everybody listen we're not looking at the fact that we are members of a church and I don't mean members you know this church you don't we don't have your membership do we we don't we don't call you up and say are you in tripping to give this month we have no membership here we're trusting God to provide we always have for 26 years he's never failed us here's the thing if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says you're born again and if you're born again the Bible tells us in first Corinthians 12 that the Holy Spirit has baptized you into the body of Christ and we become members of one another this is a spiritual truth in a reality and if that's true in your life we're members one of another we're the church we're not to hide out from one another we are to actually get together more as we see the end days approaching so says Hebrews stand are you with me somebody say Amen pretend we're Pentecostal there you go okay great this is an important thing because if the kingdom of God is within us as believers so we have our personalities yes but Jesus died for our sins not for our personalities and the body of Christ is to be strengthened by interface one with another and it's a tremendous thing and so I'm confident be confident believer because the kingdom of God dwells within you the Holy Spirit is at work in Matthew chapter 16 verse 27 begins there Jesus says for the Son of Man will come and the glory of his father and with his angels and then there will reward each according to his works according he accordingly he says I say to you that there are some standing here remember Jesus was in Galilee the disciples were around him and a huge crowd and there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of man coming by the way the word coming out a circle that the word means to appear to be present to behold to resort to his kingdom jesus said the kingdom is coming judgments coming the end is coming but that's later however there are some of you standing with me right now you will see the kingdom come and by the way a lot of sloppy Bible readers and students of the Bible get all messed up about that and they say oh wow that means everything concluded back then book of Revelation is over it happened 2,000 years ago because of what Jesus says right here no that is not proper Bible studying or reading the Bible keeps going and says for example in Matthew chapter 17 look very next verse remember the original Bibles got no chapter breaks verse 1 now after 6 days what 6 days after he said what he just said Jesus took Peter James and John listen whenever there's a special thing to be taught he takes the special edie guys on a field trip I'm grateful for these three though don't think these guys are super saiyan so I think these were the three guys that were slower than the rest of the other guys he always has to take these three guys away to reveal to them what it seems as though the other guys knew so Jesus is thinking I'm gonna go away I'm gonna go talk to my father Peter James John you better come with me he did great so it says he led them up to a high mountain I want to show you a picture of that by the way that high mountain I have no doubt there's only one high mountain in Israel and that's Mount Hermon he took them up to the high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured what is that the future king and his kingdom was happening right before them his face shone like the Sun and his clothes became as white as the light this is by the way the post think about it has even he hasn't been crucified yet but because he's entering into eternity at this moment this is a post resurrection glorified description of Christ and behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them is that amazing talking with him Jesus then Peter answered which is hilarious because who asked him anything nobody asked Peter a thing but Peter starts talking and he said to Jesus Lord it is good for us to be here if you wish let us make here three Tabernacles three tenths one for you one for Moses one for Elijah it's Mark's Gospel by the way that says that Peter said this because he didn't know what to say so he said something while he was still speaking verse five behold a bright cloud overshadowed them that is the Shekinah the glory of God and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased hear him and when the disciples heard it they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid what happened the kingdom of God in a moment was manifested to Peter James and John in an instant and what happened Christ God in flesh standing on the Mount of Transfiguration speaking the Bible tells us in another place that Moses and Elijah spoke to Christ about his suffering his death and his coming resurrection and they saw that his Peter James and John saw the glory of the kingdom to come fulfilling the words that Jesus spoke a few verses earlier those three saw the glory of God and the kingdom all wrapped up into one it was awesome Peter later on in life he's an old man now Peter later on life writes in 2nd Peter chapter 1 for we did not follow cunningly devised fables I'm so glad about this you know listen I don't know why you're a Christian today or why you're following Jesus but I sure hope it's the same reason that Peter says that we're not following Jesus for some cuddling device story that's been made up if you're following Jesus because of your mom or your dad or your son or your daughter or because it's what the American thing to do which it's probably not the American thing to do anymore to follow Jesus then I don't know what to tell you but I am so grateful this morning Church that we are not following some made-up story people love to drop the lie no blind faith blind faith nothing my faith founded upon fact what your faith founded upon my faith is scientifically provable my faith is archaeologically provable my faith is mathematically provable my faith is go on and on linked linguistically go on and on God called us not to check our brains in brains out at the door and come in to church he's asked us to think and a reason and Peter says our faith not founded on faith fables but when he we when we made known to you the power and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty that is the reference to the Transfiguration for he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory saying this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased and we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain is that awesome heaven it's where you're going Matthew chapter 10 verse 1 Matthew 10 verse 1 in Matthew 10 verse 7 listen and when he had called his twelve disciples to him he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease verse 7 and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand Christian listen a lot of people want to talk about wool how come we're not how come we don't see all this stuff happening in our town or in our community listen number one God will do whatever God wants to do miracles are happening all over the globe what's interesting as it was in the days of Israel so it's happening in various parts of the world today the Bible tells us that when the gospel is preached to an to a people who do not know the word signs and wonders confirm the preaching of the word don't ever let slient listen don't ever let science and wonders happen and then people make up the word to back up the signs and wonders that's how you get deceived the word is preached and then the power of God backs up the word preached and you see what wasn't happening here I wouldn't pray for my brother and at UCI and he didn't he didn't he wasn't resurrected or he didn't listen God does it and sometimes God doesn't do it here's the point the issue is to get people to the Word of God and Adam if you're following what's going on in various parts of China North Korea by the way pray for the Christians in North Korea most dangerous place on earth to be a Christian North Korea but look at look what's happening with the Islamic world from Indonesia all the way to Assyria and Afghanistan and Iraq look what Muslims are saying by the way by possibly by confessing this sealing their own fate Jesus spoke to me Jesus arrived I saw Jesus this Christian prayed this person was healed instantly even in the name of Jesus I became a Christian this was happening all over the world listen you don't need to see a sign in wonder to believe you need to believe in God's Word that's his thrust do you believe in what he has said be very careful about that and then look our final push today is what has God said about heaven is is that heaven that is forever this is this is what your soul I think you think I have it like yeah and look I agree with you but I got to tell you if you guys want to have some fun all fall and and winter long by the way I've had enough this is enough winter for me just today this is it okay I woke up this morning and it was 63 degrees in my house and and I think it was like 50 something outside and I thought that's it then what the end of the world draweth nigh but if you won't have a tremendous fall in winter I commend to you a study do a word study on heaven it will take you the entire three months or four months whatever it it will be a joy because you're that you're gonna find out you're gonna find out things you never never thought of before regarding heaven in fact it's so vast and amazing about the heaven that is forever that brilliant scholars throughout history get in arguments about what aspect of these things will be taking place regarding heaven so ladies and gentlemen let me first tell you I don't know the answer to those great debates by great theologians here's the fun part I don't care for this reason they talk about a future heaven and the it seems to me that their mistake is they're all trying to define the tip of a pen instead of the vastness of the scope for example are you ready for this for example and it's all true all these things are true um heaven is when one will say heaven is a city and it gives the dimensions in the Bible which it does and it gives you the the stones in the and the gates and the layout and the names that are written ended us then there's descriptions about a river flowing and then it gives a description about Nations which throws some of us for a loop I didn't think about nations in heaven it talks about heaven being created and a new earth which is interesting I know we won't be disappointed but there won't be an ocean there won't be a sea so yeah well how do you go to the beach somehow you will not be disappointed this is the most difficult thing about we eat but apparently we never get fat how cool is that ah but noticed as we eat and we drink we worship we praise interesting one great scholar said to some degree or lesser degree we travel and I thought not weird oh that's weird travel no I don't and eat buddy but he simply said this he said it says that we go in and out through the gates of the city ok I can handle that but when you talked about heaven this is true it's immeasurable in the scope of heaven there is a city that is suspended over or rest upon or barely a new earth a new creation a spiritual world that transcends what you and I have ever known a world that you and I in our existence can only flirt with right now by dreams or some sort of sense or some sort of of discernment we get a little glimpse of a spiritual realm something whereby we begin to entertain and listen what is amazing about what I'm talking about and I mentioned it last week but it was - it was to get to this nobody understands this more in an increasing level of awareness then the Christian while the rest of the world is lamenting the fact that it is getting older looking for the so-called Fountain of Youth people who do not have the hope of heaven are worried about getting older they're terrified about getting older they're terrified of death the believer understands that the heaven that is that awaits us through Jesus Christ's death itself that was once our terror becomes the very tool that sets us free into his kingdom for all eternity death becomes a stepping stone of victory to the believer Jesus crushed the power of the grave broke it completely devastated that thing that gripped the heart of man forever was shattered Jesus rose from the dead and remember his first words in his ministry was follow me and aren't you glad I see Jesus rising from the dead and he tells the women tell the disciples to follow me into the Galilee there I'll meet them Jesus says to you today follow me and you're gonna hear him again at the moment of your death I believe the first words you'll hear is Jesus saying follow me come up here this week Brian Lewis dear Brian if you saw if you didn't know Brian if you saw Brian you'd know he is tall handsome man beautiful white hair him and Kathy Brian went to be with Jesus this week and I've reminded them at the bed I said listen everybody I'm holding his hand I said listen it was great he was very alert he was very awake I said you all need to understand something and by the way I'm gonna if you're sick if I get the phone call that comes to you I I get to by the way I get to greeting two responses pastor Jack hi it's great to see you were pastor Jack I didn't I didn't know I didn't know is that sick you know it's like I'm showing up in a cloak with a dagger or something here comes the reefer no but this house this house love the Lord and all that I reminded them I said we need it we need to get something real straight right here right now brought the Brian that we know Brian that we talked to Brian that we love is not sick yet his Brian does not have cancer his body has cancer let's remember that his body has cancer his spirits not sick there's no cancer in his spirit his spirits locked inside this body soon to be a carcass just exactly as the body as the Bible said soon listen the real Brian was waiting to get out let's go let's go my mom's last words my mom's last words with her head on my aunt Betty's lap she looked at my Aunt Betty and she said what is taking him so long that was and then she died I hope she didn't get in trouble for questioning God like that but no I think he heard her and he said you're right I'm here now let's go listen Christian this is important you and I passed from this world into the next and just flip it completely on its head everything seemingly that you and I do in this life seems to be so stinking physical all the time I'm tired of it are you that's one great thing about getting old it's like this you go to the mall or you go to Universal Studios you certainly go to Disneyland and you say this is a joke you know I'm saying there are no mice that big and the only thing goofy here is the price I had to pay to get into this mousetrap unhappiest place on earth should be the sign over that thing for those who have to pay it listen listen this world is so physical it's all about it all about it all about it what do you look like what do you feel like how's that Oh what's your persona what kind of car do you have what are you wearing and it's just it's just sick and we battle as Christians we out of it all the time all the time just remember it's all fleeting it's all rotten it's all going away heavens forever are you going to heaven its forever that's where you're really gonna go and every night you lay your head down at night and you dream maybe a dream and you ever think about that you think about have you ever had a dream that felt seemed real have you ever had a dream when you wake up I don't know about you is it just me but have you ever had a dream where like a lion is chasing you through the streets have you ever had those no okay somebody analyzed me then it's just me and it's just a dream and you wake up and you're going you know forgive me I'm a weirdo I love to fly I loved I loved I loved to fly and in my I have so many dreams like this where I don't know why I'm always on a street I see a street this is too much information I don't know why but I always take my have a t-shirt on I always take my t-shirt off and I hold it over my head like this and I start running down the street and I start taking off and I'm like going over it down through flying around town over your house cruising around and it's just so cool and then I wake up and I'm so bummed that I woke up if you ever had a dream where your bum that you will go who are you when you're dreaming who is that listen that's your consciousness never sleeps it's the spirit of who you are what are you gonna do when you die because you die physically but you don't die on the inside where you going you're gonna wake up in heaven are you gonna wake up in hell there's no middle ground there's no middle earth so says the Bible the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God has planted eternity in the human heart did you know that you can be an atheist right here this morning are watching right now you're an atheist and you say this is a joke oh yeah then why do you struggle with eternity in your heart every one of us every human struggles with eternity in the heart the Christian is like yes but do you remember before we were Christians there's always that fear there was always that thought of forever after death if you don't believe in God you're lying to yourself and if you think you're not concerned about eternity I know I'm old enough to know you're fooling yourself but not really it is a serious issue and God says I put eternity I put the concern of it I put the thought of it I put the imagination of it in your heart because eternity is forever we're going to be fitted for heaven Christian because of Jesus's resurrection death is the means death becomes a tool 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 1 2nd Corinthians 5:1 says for we know that if our earthly house look at this I love this have you ever lived in a tent I mean you're about to move over to a tent for about five months and when that sanctuary tent is done you're gonna be very happy to come back in here camping is great for three days for we know that if our earthly house Paul says calls it a tent is destroyed we have a building from God he talks about the new body as a building from God a house not made with hands that's human hands eternal in the heavens you get a spacesuit for heaven for in this week grown Christians let me hear a Grom please more motrin please ibuprofen please see how true the Bible is don't you groan as you get older so I go oh man earnestly designed to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven o men if indeed having been clothed we shall not be found naked that is spiritually he's he's saying you're not gonna be a ghost for we who are in this tent groan being burdened not because we want to be unclothed but further clothed that mortality may be swallowed up by life this is the ho for the believer man this is what's going to happen to us listen when we have a funeral for somebody word mourning for ourselves we're gonna have Brian service Brian's with Jesus having an awesome time right now and if given the chance he wouldn't come back he would say wait a minute I've been up here for about three seconds I'll wait for you up here you guys just hurry along and I'll wait for you right here so listen real quick what are we talking about when we talk about the heaven that is forever it is the heaven that Jesus ascended back to in Acts chapter 1 that's the heaven forever Jesus ascended back to heaven acts 1 it is the heaven that all God's children go to when they die Acts chapter 7 Stephen is stoned to death by the Pharisees for preaching Jesus and what happens while they're throwing rocks at him Stephen looks up and he sees listen this is important I firmly believe if you don't believe what I believe regarding what I'm about to say I don't want to hear from you I like what I believe on what I'm about to say don't take this away from me when Stephen was being stoned with rocks on the brink of death Stephen looked up and somehow just like we pray for those that are being slaughtered by Isis in their their tormentors he could see heaven his eyes see he didn't keep his glasses on he put on his Universal Studios 3d glasses so to speak spiritually and you know what how do we know that because he said well he's getting rocked he says I see heaven opened haha I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the majesty and Stephen said father just like Jesus did Stephen said Father forgive them they don't know what they're doing and the Bible says he died well he didn't really die he moved right he relocated this is what I believe about me and about you who are believers I don't care what's going on I don't care if Isis wants to cut your head off or it's some bonehead murder that breaks into your house or you forget to break and rear in the back of the truck I believe that at some point in time in that remarkable moment the believer sees heaven opened we've been praying that little children have been crucified by Isis two-year-old three-year-old children are being crucified we've been praying God let them let them not feel a thing and let them see standing listen the Bible says that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father it's the only place in the Bible where we see Jesus standing at the death of one of his children look I don't know how what you want but I want Jesus to stand the mother someone I'm fading from this world I want to look up and say I see Jesus standing to greet me I believe that do I know well that's your problem I believe it it brings me great joy he stood for Peter listen he stood for James he's gonna stand for me he's not a respecter of persons and Lord you stood for James you gotta stand for me or Stephen you got to stand for me I'm it were just the same I'm just as saved as he is same blood that forgave him is the same blood that forgave me so Lord had really I can't wait to see you stand on my last on my last breath looking forward to that it's the heaven that Jesus has been preparing for us John 14 that's where we're going it's the heaven that descends back to a new world that he creates after the Millennium there's a whole new world created it's a heaven that the martyrs received Paul the Apostle for example listen to this Paul talks about and by the way many scholars believe this is by virtue of the fact I believe it's Lystra where he was stoned with rocks left for dead the Apostle Paul God touched him he rose back up but listen he says speaking I believe in the alternate person he says in second Corinthians 12:2 he says I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago and everything fits perfectly with the stone in Lystra whether in the body I do not know her whether out of the body I do not know God knows such a one was caught up to the third heaven and I know such a man whether in the body or out of the body I don't know isn't that awesome I don't know if it was I don't know if my if I was there in totality or I was just there in spirit I don't know what happened but I know this I was caught up he was caught up into paradise and he heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter whatever Paul saw he said he's saying I saw heaven and I can't talk about it oh come on Paul just would like to sit down have this interview with you mm-hmm there is not a human word on the planet that is fit to describe how awesome heaven is Paul said I'm not gonna talk about it I'm not gonna talk about it if the Holy Spirit wouldn't let Paul talk about it I don't know if the Holy Spirit's asking people to write books about it personally I mean offend you if you're writing a book on it but listen to this we're almost done first Corinthians 2 verse 9 first Corinthians 2:9 where as it is written I hasn't that scene oh right I has not seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him but God has revealed them to us through his spirit for the spirit searches all things yes the deep things of God what is that God has made heaven for us to enjoy to experience and he gives us these little snippets of Revelation I don't know about you guys but you can only take a second of it you know I'm talking about it's a it's a thought it's a moment call it an epiphany can't call it an imagination whatever it's like the reality of God strikes you for a second it's like normal good wait I can't handle that to think for a second that you're gonna look past all of my pathetic disgusting human failures and sins since I became a believer in you and your blood will have washed me clean and I'm gonna walk up to you and my chin is gonna be prone to be glued to my chest for shame and you're gonna scoop me up and you're gonna hold me because you see me washed in your blood you see me as your child and if on a little scale I can look at my children or even better yet grandchildren and they're perfect for their perfect might look well grant my my standards are really low if they're just if they walk in the front door it's alright and I gladly set those standards well God does the opposite God says impossible but let me cover you in my forgiving blood and God doesn't wait for the kids to come in the door God runs to the door after the kids Jesus said listen Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me he's not being me and he's not being weird he's actually saying hey I want you I want you with the father you're gonna love it there's only one way to get there I'm gonna tell you how to get there he's not being a weirdo you know here's what a weirdo does I just found this incredible restaurant it's the best in the world I'm not gonna tell you where it's at what kind of a person is that know Jesus says listen ultimate I'm gonna say this as it is because our minds are polluted I'll say it as it is the scripture says in his presence is fullness of and and pleasures forevermore in our world we think well that's kind of weird you have no idea what that means that's the best part about it what does that mean there's going to be I believe there's gonna be colors discovered I believe that there's gonna be frequencies of sound that we've never heard I believe I'm even gonna have a great voice in heaven I'll be able to i won't sound like Kermit the Frog anymore Jesus says I want you there and I'm gonna tell you how to get there I'm the way you get there why would you argue with that think about what's wrong with us Jesus says it's fantastic I'm gonna come and die on the cross for your sins so you can get all washed up clean and white with forgiveness because my father and I the spirit also we want you there I'm telling you how to get there paid the price for you take the ticket there you go free and this is where you go why would you argue about the person giving you the ticket and then not go through the door what's wrong with you honestly what in the world is wrong with you it is innocent if the experience of Isaiah when he saw heaven and Isaiah 6 I'm gonna go quick I can't read it all Isaiah 6 I I say I saw heaven and he said woe is me this is awesome I see angels the glory of God and if the experience of Paul on its way to Damascus meets Jesus on the Kings Highway and he's devastated by the glory of Jesus if the Mount of Transfiguration devastated them so that they fell on their face if the experience of the Apostles was the same experienced reaction of the prophets it's safe to assume that the experience of all human beings will be that they see the glory of God all human beings that have ever been created regardless of their faith they must all listen all unbelievers revelation 20:11 must stand before the judgment seat of God can you imagine that they'll see the glories of heaven have you ever taken a peek in coach in the first class you're paying five bucks for cardboard and what looks like a slice of ham and they call it a sandwich and then you hear silverware rattling and first class and you look up there and people are eating ice cream and steak can you imagine you're standing before the throne of God and you would refuse to let Jesus be your Lord and Savior and you see the glories of heaven only to find out that you and life rejected the salvation that's in Jesus and you're just pulled away taken away from the ultimate and it will never be yours why would you do that why would you do that so what will we see in heaven upon arrival will according to the Bible seems to be in this priority we see Jesus did you know that apparently he greets us from the Bible we see it then quickly the throne of God we see the description of the throne and all of its glory we see Seraphim and cherubim around the throne of God we see lightnings and thunders and voices uttered in praise and worship what is heaven going to be like as I said earlier it's going to be like a city or it is a city there's light there forever never night there's no physical limitations that we know of there abounding peace abounding pleasure abounding joy that is going to be happening there praise as I said earlier worship ultimate fulfillment of the things that the human heart has desired but wrongfully filled God will satisfy proof of that is in Revelation 21 and 22 you can read it later in detail it's awesome there's joy in heaven Jesus said that there's joy among angels when one sinner repents angels express joy in heaven where will eternity be that's a great question and it's a huge answer eternity will be an eternity heaven will be in eternity there'll be a new heaven and a new earth it's beyond description and then finally regarding the questions I heard from people and this is still by far the greatest fear of every or any Christian how can I be in heaven pastor Jack and be happy if someone I love deeply on earth doesn't make it to heaven you want to know the answer to that and I'm happy to tell you that you will never are you listening it's simple yet terrifying what about the person I love and they don't make it to heaven but I'm there the person that you loved but never made it there will never be missed by you you will never never be sad that they're not there you will never wonder why they're not there because they were never born again into the family that you were born into for you for me eternity declares we will never remember those former things and that includes people who never chose correct you will not lament that your husband or wife or father or child or parents didn't make it you will have no knowledge that they ever existed listen if you're not a Christian today how incredibly damning and horrific and terrifying is the thought that you will never be remembered swept away by your self willed denial of Jesus I want to show you two clips I don't want you to laugh tendency is to laugh I watched this happen actually before in real life and you want to laugh and then maybe you realize that's not going to be funny for them but before we show this guy's queued up you listen are you gonna be swept away listen you're gonna be swept away and never remember it because you wouldn't accept the gospel of Jesus and you think you're gonna have an you're gonna have a defense for that in the cosmic courtroom this is why I didn't become a Christian will not hold up because any accusation that you have to bring forth that God the Father will listen to will have to be a correct accusation about what Jesus did wrong and my dear friend Jesus did nothing wrong and you'll know it that day and your name will be blotted out of the book of life you will never be remembered in hell you will never be remembered in heaven because you left you missed the opportunity we have reminders of these things in life this is a cruise line listen carefully she said it must be an awful sight to see your ship leaving people waving goodbye for 30 minutes the ship's been blowing at Oran before it pulled away from the dock 30 minutes the departure time is published everybody knows there's the closeup of those two number one she's trying to be dressed number two look at that guy burdened down with all the souvenirs they never make it they never make it Lisa and I watched this happen in Juneau Alaska the ship pulled away as the couple came running up they never made it listen the ship leaves the time is published then there's a little bit of time of grace they weren't they wait 30 minutes and then by international law the ship has to leave because now depart a late departure endangers the rest of the lives of all who are on board because they have schedules and weather and things to deal with and emotionally you can argue all you want they should go back they should turn around never going to happen they knew what time they signed the contract when they bought their tickets they said they understood the way and they missed it they got too caught up easily to do too caught up in shopping too caught up in trying this on maybe getting something for junior back home it doesn't maybe they didn't plan it obviously they were too late and Jesus said I'm coming in an hour that you do not know not September 23rd I'm coming in an hour you don't know be watching be ready and I don't know about you but I'm going to heaven and I can't wait I hope it's today why be late you know what you can't be late to heaven you're gonna die or you're gonna get raptured right on time God has set that time don't be like those people let that be a lesson let's pray let's pray together father we ask in Jesus name father that these reminders in life I've got those six cocoons right outside my window at home waiting to become a butterfly ugly caterpillars ugly cocoons soon to be magnificent butterflies we have ships leaving docks at the published time no one to be faulted but those who didn't care we have the gospel that for God so loved the world that He gave His only glorified begotten one and only no other son Jesus Christ and if you would believe trust in him you will not perish but have everlasting life you will not miss the ship well heads are bowed and eyes are closed today I'm gonna ask you right now right where you're at to make this decision for Jesus that you would say to him now Lord I want to be in heaven I want to have the hope of heaven I understand that hope requires me telling you that I'm a sinner that I have sinned against you god i have had lustful thoughts angry thoughts violent thoughts envious thought whatever the thoughts are pride god I'm a sinner and I need your saving Jesus I need your washing I need what you did for me at the cross to be my own personal experience I want to agree with the prophets and I want to agree with the apostles I want heaven you're the God of all glory friend right where you're at right now you tell God in your own words I need you I want you I'm giving you my life Jesus saved me now I put my trust in you and Church may we leave today as it were burning torches like in the days of Gideon may the pots be broken open and may the fire of the torch burn bright in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord we all ask in Jesus name and all God's people said [Music]

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

Views: 10,746

Rating: 4.915916 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: tx41P8T0Pno

Length: 64min 24sec (3864 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 27 2017