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€ € € $ € € € l l l l l l ÿÿÿÿ Let’s pray. Now Lord as we open Your Word
we believe it is inspired and in effect it is going to be a roadmap for us today as we
talk about our future destination. We have just sung about it. Now we are going to read
about it. Heaven. And we pray that You will open our eyes to this amazing supernatural
world that waits for us in the future. Perhaps the very near future. So speak to us as we
open Your Word. We ask all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well let’s turn in our Bibles now to Revelation chapter 15. Revelation chapter 15. And the
title of my message is, “What We Will Do In Heaven.”
Quick question. How many of you have ever used GPS before? Raise up your hand. How many
of you have been misdirected by GPS. Yeah. I have too. You know I am navigationally challenged.
Ok. I get lost very easily. And I have punched in the address and dutifully followed the
directions. It tells me to turn left here, turn right there. And I can think of times
where I know it is wrong and so I will get on the proper freeway because I recognize
where I am and then the GPS starts correcting me. Turn right at the next offramp. Turn right
at the next offramp. I don’t know about your GPS but mine says, “I told you turn
right at the next offramp.” The other day it insulted me. “You idiot.” I had to
go into the menu and like take out the de-nag feature. It was really weird. No. I made that
up.
But I actually read about a motorist I think they were in Milwaukee that ended up on a
snowmobile trail because they obeyed their GPS that led them in the wrong direction.
They ended up stuck in the snow and had to call 911. The officer that responded said,
“People shouldn’t believe every thing these things tell you.”
You know GPS can fail us. But now think about the sophisticated homing instinct of a bird.
A bird that God has created that seems to have better GPS than our latest technology.
Consider a bird known as the Manx Shearwater. These amazing birds nest off of the coast
of Wales. Scientists took a number of them and tagged and released them at different
points around the globe to see whether they could find their way back home to the Coast
of Wales in just 12 days. All of the birds made their way back. And one bird in particular
made it all the way from Boston traveling 250 miles a day from a place it had never
been before to get back home. Now that is what you call a homing instinct.
There is another bird known as the Golden Plover. It is native to the islands of Hawaii.
The Plover migrates during the summer to the Aleutian Islands some 1200 miles away. I guess
the Plover feels you know it is really hot in Hawaii in the summer. Too many tourists.
Let’s go to the Aleutian Islands. And so these birds fly 1200 miles away. When they
arrive, they mate, they lay their eggs, and their little fledglings are born. And then
the parent birds fly back to the islands and the little fledglings are left there to grow
up and then they instinctively know to make the same journey to a place they have never
been before of 1200 miles. Now that is amazing.
So the next time someone calls you a birdbrain take it as a compliment.
A homing instinct. To a place they have never been.
God has placed a homing instinct in you and I as well. And I believe it is a homesickness
for heaven. We long for a place we have never been before. We are prewired that way. As
we are told in the book of Ecclesiastes, “God has placed eternity in our hearts.” And
so that is why we are talking about heaven together.
Most Americans, by the way, believe in the afterlife. They believe in a place called
heaven. Newsweek Magazine did an article some time ago called, “Visions of Heaven” that
revealed 76% of Americans believe in heaven and of those 71% believe it is an actual place.
But after that the agreement breaks down because 19% think heaven looks like a garden. Thirteen
percent think it looks like a city. And 70% don’t know. But they did so even among those
who said they didn’t believe in it they sneakingly wished there was one.
Well I have got good news. There is a heaven. It is a place. And as a matter of fact the
Bible says heaven is a garden. Heaven is a city. Heaven is a paradise. It is worth noting
that the Bible doesn’t say heaven is like a garden or like a city or like a country.
It actually describes heaven as those things. We need to think more of heaven as a place.
Not a state of mind. Not some surreal mystical place that we just sort of float around in.
It is a real place that we are headed to. As Jesus said in John 14, “I have gone to
prepare a place for you.”
You see heaven is not an imitation of earth but it is really the other way around. We
often start with earth and reason up toward heaven when we ought to start with heaven
and reason back toward earth. Heaven is the real deal. The eternal dwelling place of every
follower of Jesus Christ. Earth is the copy. The temporary dwelling place.
C. S. Lewis wrote, and I quote, “All the things that have ever deeply possessed your
soul have been hints of heaven – tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled,
echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. If I find in myself a desire which
no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is I was made for
another world.” Lewis concludes, “Earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy, but
to arouse, to suggest, the real thing.” End quote.
Heaven is the real thing that we long for.
But questions often arise. And we wonder about heaven. What will our new bodies in heaven
be like for the Bible promises that there is one waiting for us? Will we know one another
when we get there? And then really the theme of my message what will we actually do in
heaven?
Let’s deal with that first one. What will our new bodies be like? God is going to give
you a brand new body. But it will not be unrelated to your existing body. Listen. The blueprint
for your glorified body is in the body you now possess. It is already there. The blueprints
for our glorified bodies are in the bodies we now possess. There will be a connection
between the Greg of earth and the Greg of heaven you see. And the same is true for all
of us. Job said, “In my flesh I will see God.” Because the Bible promises that these
bodies of ours will be resurrected again. And so there is a connection between the old
and the new. Heaven is the earthly life of the belief glorified and perfected.
And when we get there to the other side our minds and our memories will be clearer than
they have ever been before. 1 Corinthians 15 says, “Our bodies now disappoint.”
Do I hear an amen on that? “But when they are raised they will be full of glory. They
are weak now but when they are raised they will be full of power. They are natural human
bodies now but when they are raised they will be spiritual bodies.” Now that means that
our new bodies will in some ways be the same as our old bodies but at the same time they
will be different. Without question they will be radically improved. No more physical disabilities.
No signs of age. No sinful tendencies.
Joni Eareckson Tada. You have heard of her. A courageous young woman who had a diving
accident when she was a young girl years ago and the result was she was left as a quadriplegic.
And Joni has sought to take this disability and use it as a platform to glorify God. And
she wrote a book about heaven called, “Heaven: Your Real Home.” And she talks in her book
about the new bodies that God will give us. And I think it is especially poignant when
you think about what Joni has had to endure. And here is what she says about our new bodies,
and I quote from her. “No more bulging middles or balding tops.” Thank you Joni. “No
varicose veins or crows feet. No more cellulite or support hose. Forget the thunder thighs
and the highway hips. Just a quick leapfrog over the tombstone and it is a body you have
always dreamed of. Fit and trim. Smooth sleek.” End quote. Well said.
Our new resurrection bodies will resemble the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. You
remember that Christ was crucified and He rose again from the dead three days later.
And we know that after His resurrection He was physical. You could touch Him. He ate
fish the Bible says. But yet He could appear in a room without using the door. And of course
He ascended to glory.
Now we wonder will we be able to do the same things. Well I don’t know. But the Bible
does say in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are the children of God; it has not yet been
revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him,
for we will see Him as He is.” You are going to receive a new body. Jesus even said in
John 14, “In My Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
Now sometimes we wonder if that is describing an actual house we will live in or if it is
talking about our new body. The word mansion used by Christ in John 14 could be translated
dwelling place. So it could be a reference to the new glorified body. Then again maybe
it is talking about a house. Maybe we will live in homes in heaven. Who can say?
It reminds e of a story of a New York cab driver who died and went to heaven along with
a minister. By the way how many of you have ever ridden in a cab in New York City? Raise
your hand. Ok. You know you wondered if you would survive it. Right. They drive fast and
crazy. All right. Having said that so the New York cabbie comes up to the pearly gates.
He is greeted by Simon Peter of course who takes him and says, “Well I am in charge
of housing up here in heaven. And I understand that you were a New York cab driver.” And
the man said yes. And he said, “Well you see that mansion over there on that hill.
That’s all yours.” So off the New York cab driver went. And the minister was feeling
really good at this point because he thought to himself, “Now imagine if a New York cab
driver gets a mansion what am I going to get? A man who has dedicated his life to the preaching
of the gospel.” So he stepped up and Peter said, “Now I understand that you were a
well-known minister on earth.” “Yes that’s true.” “Well you see that shack down there
in the valley. That’s yours.” And the minister protested and said, “Now hold on.
I am a minister of the gospel. Why is it that a cab driver gets a mansion and I get a shack?”
Peter said, “Well when he drove people prayed but when you preached people slept.” So.
That is just a silly joke really.
There is a dwelling place waiting for us on the other side.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, “We know For we know that when this earthly tent we
live in is taken down (when we die and leave these bodies), we will have a home in heaven,
an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. So we grow weary in
our present bodies, and we long for the day when we put on our heavenly bodies like new
clothing.”
And I ask you do you long for that day. Do you look forward to the day when you will
see the Lord face to face?
You know life goes by so quickly. Billy Graham was asked awhile back what the greatest surprise
of his life had been. And his answer was, “The brevity of it.”
You know when you are young it seems like life goes on forever. I remember when I was
in elementary school it seemed like each school day lasted months. I remember one of my teachers
actually wrote on one of my report cards. I still have it. “Greg spends too much time
looking out the window and daydreaming and drawing cartoons. He will never amount to
anything.” And that is how I was in school. Daydreaming. Looking out the window. Watching
the clock and wondering why it wasn’t working.
But then you get out of elementary school and junior high goes a little bit faster.
Then high school. And then adult life. And then pretty soon you start remembering decades
instead of years. And life just flies by. And you look in the mirror and you have now
officially become an old person.
I started getting AARP magazines delivered to my house recently. AARP Magazine. I didn’t
ask for that. I don’t want it. But someone told me because of my age, which is 56, that
I now qualify for a discount at the movie theater as a senior citizen. And guess what?
I am taking advantage of it. Why not?
But there are those telltale signs that you are getting old. You know you are getting
old when you get winded playing chess. That is one of the signs of it. You know you are
getting old when you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and then you realize
you are not wearing any. You know you are getting old when your pacemaker accidently
opens the garage door. You know you are getting old when you bend over to tie your shoes and
you wonder what else you can do while you are down there. That is so true isn’t it?
You know you are getting old when you actually look forward to a dull evening at home. You
know you are getting old when your mind makes commitments your body cannot keep. You know
you are getting old when someone calls you at 9:00 in the evening and says, “Did I
wake you?” You know you are getting old when your ears are hairier than your head.
Oh man.
See we often think of ourselves with a body that happens to have a soul. But the reality
is you are a soul wrapped in a body. Let me explain. The real you is yes your body of
course. But that thing that gives you spark and personality it is your soul that lives
forever in the presence of God.
That brings us to question number two. Will we recognize one another in heaven? The short
answer is yes. Absolutely. Why would you think that you would know less in heaven than you
know on earth? See as I said earlier in heaven we are perfected. We are glorified. In fact
it even says in 1 Corinthians, “We will know as we are known.” There will be no
more mysteries. No more questions. Everything will be resolved. You will know. You will
know things when you are there in heaven. You will still love your family and your friends.
In fact it will be a stronger purer and sweeter love. There is no more a break in your love
than there will be a break in your thoughts. Death breaks ties on earth but it renews them
in heaven. And we will be the same people in heaven that we were on earth. We don’t
become a different person. I am still me. You are still you. But the perfected version
of me. Without the flaws. Without the shortcomings. Without the sinful tendencies. Glorified in
the presence of God. And we will know all things the Scripture says.
You remember Jesus appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah. Now
how is it that anyone knew that was Moses and Elijah? Do you think Moses was standing
there with two commandments you know just, “Hi. I am Moses. Recognize these.” And
Elijah is over there calling fire down. Maybe they had little name tags. Hi. My name is
Moses. You know that you wear. No. I don’t think so. See even in their being called back
from glory momentarily to appear with Christ they were recognizable as we will be when
we get to heaven. You will have the same thoughts and feelings and desires that you had on earth.
But they will all be perfected. You will be you in heaven.
You remember when Jesus rose from the dead He said to His disciples in Luke 24:39, “It
is I Myself.” It is Me guys. Not a different Jesus. It is the same Jesus in a glorified
body.
But that brings us to the question what will we do in heaven. And the reason we ask this
is we often have a concept of heaven as well kind of a boring place. I am just going to
sit around on clouds and strum harps and sleep. And to some that might sound really nice.
Yeah. It doesn’t sound so great to me. So it is good news to know that there will actually
be activities in heaven.
One of the things you will be doing in heaven is you will be worshipping. You will be worshipping
God. And by the way that is why you were created. To bring honor and glory to God.
And I would think that in heaven we would all have perfect voices. How many of you have
seen this video of this lady in England Susan Boyle? All of you. On the YouTube it has been
viewed millions of times. It is a TV show in England called Britain’s Got Talent.
And it is somewhat like American Idol though they have other things you can do like dancing
and so forth. So this woman comes up. Her name is Susan Boyle. She is well how do I
put it delicately she is not an attractive woman. And very little is expected for her.
In fact when she says she is going to sing a song there is snickering in the audience
as though this woman for some reason would not be able to sing well. And then when she
begins her selection from Les Misérables she sings so beautifully the audience, the
judges, are stunned.
And I suppose in heaven we will all have perfect voices. No one will be going sharp or flat.
We will harmonize perfectly as we sing the praises of God. In fact we read in Revelation
15, “I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood
all the people who had been victorious over the beast and the number representing his
name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. And they were singing the
song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: ‘Great and marvelous are
your works,’”
Maybe one of the reasons we can sing without hesitation in heaven is all of our problems
are gone. All of our conflicts are gone. All of our sorrows are gone. All of our questions
are answered and resolved.
One of the reasons we have a hard time worshipping on earth is we are not always in the mood.
“I am not in the mood to worship. I have a cold.” Or, “I have this problem that
is troubling me right now so I don’t want to sing.” Or we even sometimes become critics
of worship. “Well I didn’t really like that worship set as much as last week you
know and I felt it was a little too loud or wasn’t loud enough or I don’t like that
instrument or I like this other instrument.” You know worship is not something we should
critique. It is something we should do and it is something we should do whether we feel
like it or not.
And that is why the Bible talks about the sacrifice of praise because there are times
when praise is a sacrifice. I don’t want to offer it, but I offer it anyway because
I know that God is in control. I know that God loves me. And I know that He is worthy
of my praise. So I offer it up. Because listen. Worship is not about you. It is all about
Him. And if we can get that in mind when we sing our praises to God it can make all the
difference in the world.
We will worship the Lord when we are in heaven. But we will not just worship all the time.
Sometimes people have this idea that we are just going to lay there on our stomachs worshipping.
Well yeah we will do that but we are also going to be busy. We are going to be doing
our Father’s business in heaven. The Bible tells us in Revelation 7:15 that “we are
standing in front of the throne of God serving Him day and night in His temple and He who
sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them.” Then later, and we will talk
about this later, when heaven comes to earth and the New Jerusalem we will be very busy
in service to the Lord as well. But we will be serving God in heaven.
Yes heaven is a place of rest but I can only rest for so long. It will also be a place
of productivity. One wonders what the Lord has in store for us when we get there. We
wonder if we will be able to finish some of the tasks that remain uncompleted on earth.
Maybe you had dreams that were shattered here that will be fulfilled there. Sometimes we
act as though everything and anything that can be done must be done while we are on earth.
Now of course we do want to make the most of time on earth. We don’t determine when
we or born nor do we determine when we die. But we have everything to do with that little
dash in the middle. How we live our lives. But here is what we need to also know is life
does not end after life on earth. It continues on in heaven. Because what if a life is limited
by disability or illness. What if a life is cut short through death and we think well
that life was wasted. That is unfortunate. They never realized their dreams. Who is to
say their dreams could not be realized on the other side? Who is to say that God would
not complete what He had started on the other side?
It is frustrating because we meet some people who live long lives that are squandered and
wasted. Sometimes people that live wicked lives. And then we see someone with so much
promise and ability and gifting and then they die unexpectedly and we think that is so unfair.
That is because we are putting all of our thinking into life on earth and not realizing
that life goes on.
Listen. Death for the believer is not the end of life but a continuation of it in another
place. I repeat again. Death for the believer is not the end of life but a continuation
of it in another place. You will live forever. Don’t forget that. Earth it is like a stopover.
It is a stopover.
You know when you book a flight and you are going somewhere you have a stopover. And I
don’t like stopovers myself. Whenever I book a flight I try to get a direct flight.
Because sometimes during stopovers things happen. Bad weather rolls in and you get stuck
wherever. So I like to get from A to B as quickly as quickly as possible. But we are
in this stopover. In this airport lounge if you will. And on the other side for us is
heaven. And it will come sooner than we may realize.
What else will we do in heaven? Well I will tell you one thing we are going to do. We
are going to eat. We are going to eat. How many of you like to eat? Raise your hand.
Good. Good. How many of you don’t like to eat? Raise your hand. Get out. No. You don’t
have to get out. I just don’t understand you. Yes we are going to eat in heaven. Revelation
19:9 says, “The angel said, ‘Write: “Blessed are they that are invited to the Wedding Supper
of the Lamb. These are the true words of God.”’”
I like the fact that the word supper is used. You know here in California we usually refer
to that evening meal as dinner. In the South they call it supper. Right. Get ready for
supper. Wash up for supper. I heard this a lot growing up because for a good part of
my childhood I was raised by my grandparents Stella and Charles. I called my grandmother
Mama Stella and my grandfather Daddy Charles. And my grandmother she was from the old school
of cooking. Mama Stella never saw a TV dinner. She never reheated anything. Everything was
made from scratch. Every night fresh fried chicken. And the best fried chicken you have
ever had. And then you know the string beans and the black eyed peas and the okra and the
collard greens and all of those southern goodies. And mashed potatoes made from scratch I might
add. And then her crowning achievement was the biscuit. I actually believe there was
an anointing on my grandmother to make this biscuit. I have never had one as good since
she went to heaven. And I am sure the Lord would employ her abilities in heaven at the
supper of the Lamb.
But we will also be able to sit down with the great saints of old. Matthew 8:11 says,
“I tell you that they will come from the east and the west and take their place at
the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” I mean can you imagine
that. Sitting at a table. “Moses, excuse me, would you pass the manna? Elijah my meat
is a little undercooked. Would you get a little extra fire on it? Hey Lot could you pass the
salt. Don’t be so sensitive Lot. Come on.” This is original material here folks. But
imagine being able to pick the brain if you will of a great man or woman of faith. You
know find out about them. Talk to Mary about having the Son of God conceived in her womb.
Talk to Moses about seeing the Red Sea parted. Talk to Noah about the ark. Talk to Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego about the fiery furnace. “Did you guys use sunscreen?” Talk to
Daniel about the lion’s den. The list goes on. How amazing it will be.
But the great thing will be being reunited with loved ones. And for me of course that
comes back to my son who I miss and I look forward to seeing. When Christopher was a
little boy and I would carry him around he would point to things and ask me what they
were. And because he was very little he didn’t say what’s that. He just said s’at. S’at.
Point to a truck. That’s a truck. S’at. That’s a tree. S’at. That’s another
tree. S’at. That is a house. S’at. S’at. And he said it over and over and over. Really
wore me out. S’at. S’at. S’at. Curious little guy. When I get to heaven. He has been
there ahead of me. I will walk up to him and I will say S’at. That is the sea of glass
dad. S’at. Well that is an angel dad. When do we eat dinner? Any time dad.
But the main event of heaven is going to be Jesus. The main event of heaven is Jesus.
We long for heaven but really what we are longing for is God Himself. And Jesus said,
“I will come back and take you to be with Me that where I am you may be also.” Paul
said, “I desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better.” D. L. Moody wrote,
and I quote, “It is not the jeweled walls and pearly gates that are going to make heaven
attractive. It is being with God.” God will be there. You can ask Him anything. Tell Him
anything. And hear everything that He has to say to you. You will have all the time
in the world when you get to heaven. It is our future home. It is the place that we desire.
The place that we long for. We have a homing instinct for it. And it is going to be fantastic.
You know when I travel I miss home pretty quickly. Even when I leave California I miss
California. You know I have discovered the rest of the country doesn’t have a clue
when it comes to Mexican food. I mean they just ruin it. I am not going to say where
but South Dakota. That is the only place I have been recently so you could probably figure
that out. But and I tried Mexican food two times. Uh. No. Not even close. But oh I get
home and I long for American food. If you are overseas you long for your house. You
long for your bed. And certainly you long for your family. We all long for heaven.
Years ago Audio Adrenaline recorded a song called Big House about heaven. They sang it
at one of our crusades years ago. Speaking of heaven they sang
It's a big big house with lots and lots a room A big big table with lots and lots of
food A big big yard where we can play football A big big house Its my Fathers house
Steven Curtis Chapman, who has sung at our crusades and you all know who he is, had his
little daughter Maria die one year ago. I remember when we were in New Zealand with
Steven and I had lunch with him and we talked for two and a half hours. Not about his music
career. Not about any of the things you would think a person who has been successful in
that field would talk about. All Steven wanted to talk about was adopting babies from China
because he was very involved in that. And one little girl he adopted was little Maria.
And he was able to speed up the adoption process because Maria was born with a hole in her
heart. And he loved her with all of his heart. And she was a member of his family. And he
had one other young girl he had adopted from China as well. And you are probably aware
of the tragic accident when Steven’s son accidentally hit the little girl and she was
killed. And as he was being interviewed on the Focus on the Family radio broadcast this
week by Dr. Dobson he talked about that event. And he mentioned a postcard that I had written
to him that I never knew he had received. It surprised me when I heard him mention it.
And he said that I had written him and said in this little card that his little girl was
going to be much more a part of his future than his past. And he said that encouraged
him and that was great to here. But he related a story that his wife told when little Maria
came to his wife Mary Beth and asked her about this place she had heard about in Sunday School
this big big house with lots and lots of food; a big big yard and so forth. And immediately
Maria or excuse me Mary Beth recognized that little Maria was talking about that Audio
Adrenaline song. So she said, “Oh you mean where we will play football.” “Yeah Mommy.
That is the place.” She said, “Well that is a song about heaven.” And little Maria
said, “Well I want to go to there.” And of course mommy said, “Well one day. Later.
Not any time soon.” But the Lord had prepared this little girl and that is where she is
now. In heaven. In that big big house and that big big table. I don’t know about the
football part. But why not.
Are you ready? Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. If I am going to take
a trip, I have to book a ticket. I don’t just walk down and board a plane. And in the
same way if you want to be sure you are going to heaven you need the ticket. You say, “Well
how much will it cost?” Well you couldn’t afford it. But the good news is Jesus Christ
came to this earth and died on a cross for your sin and rose again from the dead and
in effect purchased your ticket for eternal life. Here is how you receive it. You just
say, “Lord I accept that gift that you have offered to me. I turn from my sin and I put
my faith in You.” And I wonder if you have done that. Because listen to me now. You don’t
know when life is going to end. We all think we are going to live lives and some of us
will and quite frankly some of us won’t. So we need to be ready to go. The Bible says,
“Prepare to meet your God.” Be ready.
And then you know if the Lord gives you many years fine. You live them for His glory. If
He doesn’t give you as many years as you had hoped for that is fine because you will
be in glory. The point is you are ready.
But this is not something you put off. And so here is how I want to close today. I want
to be certain that you are ready to go to heaven. And if you are not certain, I want
to give you that opportunity as we close in prayer. If you are listening to this message
and you do not have 100% certainty that you will go to heaven when you die or that you
would be ready for the Lord’s return please respond to this opportunity I will give you
to say yes to Jesus Christ.
Let’s bow our heads for prayer now. Father speak to every person hearing this message.
Help them to see their need for You and Lord help them to come to You and receive the forgiveness
that You alone offer. We ask in Jesus name.  à Y [ M  à œ Á # f g ;) ˆ) Œ)
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