1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,040 How many of you know someone who's in heaven? 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:06,800 Lift your hand. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,360 You should know the Lord there. 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,040 Tricked you on that a little bit. 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:20,880 In addition to him, I think nearly all of us have friends or loved ones that have gone 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,280 to heaven. 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:30,960 I don't suppose that there is a thought that is so dear to us, so it once filled with hope 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:36,200 and wonder, with glory and mystery, as that of heaven. 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:43,600 The word heaven in either a singular or plural form is found in the Bible some 600 times. 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,680 There are three uses of the word heaven, three meanings to it. 11 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:54,280 There is what is called the atmospheric heavens, Genesis 1.8 says, and God called the firmament 12 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:55,280 heaven. 13 00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:00,720 That refers to the atmosphere of the world. 14 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:06,160 And then there is what is called the stellar heavens, where the stars are the universe 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:07,160 that we see. 16 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:13,400 Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God. 17 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:19,080 But then there is that very special sense of heaven, which we refer to it as the abode 18 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:20,960 of God. 19 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:27,400 It is called in 1 Kings 8.27 the heaven of heavens. 20 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:32,760 It is the place where God dwells. 21 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,280 Certainly it is true that God as God is omnipresent. 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:42,480 There is not a place in his universe where he is not. 23 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:52,040 But yet in a special sense, it is said that heaven is the abode of the Lord. 24 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:57,760 A Christian does not expect to be either annihilated or reincarnated. 25 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,860 Those two doctrines come from the pit. 26 00:02:01,860 --> 00:02:08,740 The idea that man is annihilated when he dies, that his existence ceases, that he no longer 27 00:02:08,740 --> 00:02:11,560 is, is a lie. 28 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:19,560 Man is not annihilated, for existence continues after death for every person, whether saved 29 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,840 or lost. 30 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:28,440 And then the idea that man is reincarnated is also a lie. 31 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:33,740 To each person is meted out a certain portion of time on this earth, and when that time 32 00:02:33,740 --> 00:02:38,200 has been finished, he dies. 33 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,920 He leaves this earth, not to return again. 34 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:43,480 There is only one lifetime. 35 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:49,960 We are not reincarnated as other people or as other life forms or even as material objects. 36 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:55,680 Nor do we dwell around the earth as ghosts or disembodied spirits. 37 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,440 You say, but there are people who have seen ghosts. 38 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:01,240 There are people who have contacted spirits. 39 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:07,280 Yes, that is true, but they are not human spirits. 40 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:14,320 They are demonic spirits, and they can disguise themselves and masquerade as departed humans 41 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,400 at times. 42 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:22,560 The Bible is very clear that when a person dies, he leaves the earth and is then found 43 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:30,240 either in the Lord's presence or in torment in hell. 44 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,440 The Christian's hope is fixed on a Savior who is to come from heaven. 45 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,480 So let's talk about heaven tonight. 46 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:42,000 There are a number of frequently asked questions, and I want to try to ask these and answer 47 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:48,760 them in such a way that even a child here can understand something about heaven. 48 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:53,000 The first question that is often asked is, where is heaven? 49 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:01,120 Well, that is not an easy question to answer, because the location is never directly revealed 50 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,100 in the Bible. 51 00:04:04,100 --> 00:04:11,200 There are some people who claim that astronomers have found in the northern sky an area where 52 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:19,760 there are no stars, where there is just blackness, although there are those who say that in that 53 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,400 area there is a luminous glow that is indefinable. 54 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:28,600 Well, I am not an astronomer, and I have never been able to trace that down and nail it down 55 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,800 to my own satisfaction. 56 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:39,600 But as to where heaven is, there is a clue given in the Bible, and that is that it is 57 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,040 up. 58 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,660 That's profound, isn't it? 59 00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:49,380 Heaven is up as opposed to down or around. 60 00:04:49,380 --> 00:04:50,800 It's up. 61 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:58,460 For example, back in Genesis 11, when united mankind in its one-world effort attempted 62 00:04:58,460 --> 00:05:05,680 to build the tower at Babel, they built a tower up to reach into heaven where God lives. 63 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:12,560 Furthermore, in the Old Testament, when Elijah was caught away, it says that he went up by 64 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:18,280 a whirlwind into heaven. 65 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:25,040 The Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven, the word says. 66 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:32,880 The Apostle Paul testifies in his own experience in 2 Corinthians 12 that he was caught up 67 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:37,320 to the third heaven, as he put it. 68 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:45,600 And then the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos was told by the Lord, come up here. 69 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,080 And so where is heaven? 70 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:51,740 The best answer we can give from the Bible is that it is up. 71 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:59,760 It is not in this world, it is not below the earth, as we suspect, some of us at least, 72 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,560 hell is, but rather it is up. 73 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,440 Where up? 74 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:17,200 Well, perhaps beyond the stellar heavens, perhaps beyond the edge of the universe, perhaps 75 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:25,200 in another dimension within our sight, if our eyes can only perceive it, that is possible. 76 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,240 But wherever it is, it is up. 77 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:34,680 It is furthermore at the end of the life of a believer, for that is where he goes when 78 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,640 he dies. 79 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,280 But then what is it like there? 80 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:40,280 What is heaven like? 81 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:46,120 Well, it seems that there are three descriptions in the Bible that tell us a little bit about 82 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:47,120 heaven. 83 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:52,440 Frankly, the Lord says more about hell than he does about heaven. 84 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,920 I think there is a reason for that. 85 00:06:54,920 --> 00:07:01,800 He was warning people to repent of sin and turned to him to avoid hell. 86 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,440 Had he said too much about heaven, it might be that we would not be too content to stay 87 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,640 here. 88 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,640 So he does not say a great deal about it, but what he does say is that in the first 89 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:15,040 place it is like a house. 90 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:25,960 Turn over to John chapter 14 for a moment. 91 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:34,280 In these familiar words spoken that night in the upper room before his crucifixion, 92 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,120 Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled. 93 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:40,400 Believe in God, believe also in me. 94 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:47,000 In my Father's house are many dwelling places. 95 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:53,040 If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. 96 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:59,040 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself 97 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,560 that where I am there you may be also. 98 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:06,600 Now, where do most preachers quote those verses? 99 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:08,680 At funerals, right? 100 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:10,880 That's where I almost always use them. 101 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,080 And there is comfort there. 102 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:18,440 And I think there is an application in that when a person dies, a Christian dies, it is 103 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:26,600 the Lord, as it were, coming to that individual and taking that individual to be with himself. 104 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,560 But technically the interpretation of this verse 3 especially seems to be not the Lord 105 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:37,360 coming to take us in death, but the Lord coming to take us in the rapture. 106 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:42,640 I think this is a word about that event before its full revelation through the Apostle Paul 107 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:43,640 later on. 108 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,320 But where are we going to go when he comes to get us? 109 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,800 Well, to that place he is prepared in the Father's house. 110 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:58,000 The first time that a child of God speaks of the heavenly abode, he uses that term, 111 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:05,760 and that's Jacob in Genesis 28-17, on that night when he had the vision and saw the ladder 112 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:11,080 that the angels were ascending and descending. 113 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:12,960 He says, this is the house of the Lord. 114 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,000 This is the gate of heaven. 115 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,520 The house of the Lord is what David called it. 116 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:25,120 He said, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell 117 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:26,980 where? 118 00:09:26,980 --> 00:09:30,560 In the house of the Lord forever. 119 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:37,400 And that house of the Lord, as David called it, is what Jesus calls here my Father's house. 120 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:43,840 I doubt if there is a sweeter term to us than the term home. 121 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:49,920 When we use that word, we think of a place of contentment and rest, a place of closeness, 122 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:53,920 of love, of warmth, of fellowship. 123 00:09:53,920 --> 00:10:01,480 In 2 Corinthians 5-8, the Apostle says that when we are absent from the body and present 124 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:08,000 with the Lord, we are at home with the Lord. 125 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:09,940 We are at home. 126 00:10:09,940 --> 00:10:11,280 We are not at home now. 127 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:12,560 We are on a pilgrimage here. 128 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:20,440 We are aliens in this world, but that is home. 129 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:27,200 When it says that there are many dwelling places, in John 14, it uses the same word 130 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,840 that is found only one of the place in the New Testament, in this same chapter, as a 131 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,440 matter of fact, verse 23. 132 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,880 When it says, the Lord Jesus says regarding himself and the Father, we will come to him, 133 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,560 the believer, and make our abode with him. 134 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:50,400 In other words, right now you and I are the abode, the dwelling place of God by his Holy 135 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,040 Spirit. 136 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:58,680 But there is coming a day when, just as the Holy Spirit indwells us, we will indwell heaven, 137 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,960 a place in the Father's house. 138 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:07,320 The suggestion seems to be here in these verses in John 14 that the Father's house is composed 139 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:12,920 of many individual dwelling places. 140 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:18,620 And it suggests that throughout eternity to come, we are going to have a place prepared 141 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:26,600 for us, which will be there in the Father's house and will be our home in a special sense. 142 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:33,400 Not that we will be limited to that place, it's not a prison, but that will be home 143 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,860 for us. 144 00:11:35,860 --> 00:11:37,720 It is a specially prepared place. 145 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:42,720 Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. 146 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:43,720 And so what is heaven like? 147 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,400 Well, it's like home. 148 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:53,800 It's like a house where there are many dwelling places, a place for each one of his own. 149 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,000 And then heaven is also like a city. 150 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:02,200 When we think of a city, we think of activity, we think of excitement. 151 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,200 Heaven is like a city. 152 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:11,720 Turn over to Hebrews chapter 11 and notice what it says regarding Abraham's outlook of 153 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,200 faith. 154 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:21,280 Hebrews chapter 11 verse 10, regarding him it says, he was looking for the city which 155 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:26,880 has foundations whose architect and builder is God. 156 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:32,160 In other words, Abraham recognized that he was a pilgrim here, he lived in tents, and 157 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:40,400 was content to do so because he was looking for the city which God would build, which 158 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,760 God would design. 159 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:52,080 In chapter 13 of this same book, and verse 14, it furthermore says, we do not have a 160 00:12:52,080 --> 00:13:00,080 lasting city here, but we are seeking the city which is to come. 161 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,280 In other words, we are identified with Abraham. 162 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:11,600 We too are pilgrims, we too should be content with temporariness in this world because we 163 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:18,680 have a permanent dwelling place in the city which is to come, the same city that Abraham 164 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:21,680 anticipated. 165 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:27,440 I believe that we have a view of that city in chapter 12, which comes in between 11 and 166 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,440 13. 167 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,080 I mean that's kind of an obvious place for it, isn't it? 168 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:39,960 Chapter 12 verse 22, we have not come to Mount Sinai with all of its effects and its fearfulness 169 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:47,080 and its law, but it says, you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, 170 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,720 the heavenly Jerusalem. 171 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:56,000 It seems to me that this is the same heavenly city that is described in Revelation chapters 172 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,040 21 and 22. 173 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:06,160 The heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, the Lamb's bride dwells there. 174 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:13,080 It is a sparkling, pristine city reflecting God's glory. 175 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:21,520 It is not precisely the same thing as heaven, for this city that is seen comes down from 176 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,560 God out of heaven. 177 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:33,080 Heaven seems to be much larger in its concept than just this city. 178 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:40,720 Perhaps we can say that in a sense this city is the capital of heaven. 179 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:47,080 It is the chief cornerstone to the heavenly abode of God. 180 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:53,880 That city that is described is two and a half million square miles, which means that it 181 00:14:53,880 --> 00:15:01,480 is 15,000 times the size of London, 10 times the size of Germany. 182 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:06,020 If you were to place just the new Jerusalem now, which is a part of heaven, it comes down 183 00:15:06,020 --> 00:15:07,840 out of heaven. 184 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:12,480 If you were to place just that city on the United States, it would cover two-thirds of 185 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,160 the 48 states. 186 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,000 It's a big place. 187 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:25,880 So heaven is described in part as a city as well as a house. 188 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:31,600 But one of my favorite descriptions telling us what it's like is found back in 2 Corinthians, 189 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,400 chapter 12. 190 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:43,480 Again, this is the Apostle's own experience, perhaps when he was stoned to death and died 191 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:51,640 in that first missionary journey. 192 00:15:51,640 --> 00:16:03,040 He says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 2, I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, whether 193 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:10,600 in the body I do not know or out of the body I do not know, God knows, such a man was caught 194 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,000 up to the third heaven. 195 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,680 And I know how such a man, whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, 196 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:27,360 God knows, was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which a man is not 197 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,780 permitted to speak. 198 00:16:30,780 --> 00:16:35,720 So the Apostle Paul here using the third person but rather clearly indicating that he's talking 199 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,880 about his own experience. 200 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:44,280 The Apostle Paul says that he had an out of the body experience. 201 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,120 Now he wasn't sure if he was in the body or out of the body. 202 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,580 And that kind of reminds you of some of the language we hear these days of people who 203 00:16:51,580 --> 00:16:56,640 relate so-called out of the body experiences. 204 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:05,560 But the Apostle says that in this case he himself was caught up into heaven. 205 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:12,640 And then he uses in verse 4 that very special word, he was caught up into paradise. 206 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:19,080 That is a Greek word which goes back to a word originating in the Persian language. 207 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:23,360 It literally means a park. 208 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:25,440 A park. 209 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:26,640 So what is heaven like? 210 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:32,400 It's like a park with beauty and serenity. 211 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:39,080 A park landscaped, manicured, and kept in good order. 212 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,160 A park with trees, a river. 213 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:50,040 And indeed we know that the New Jerusalem itself has a river flowing down from the throne 214 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:54,500 and trees that line the river. 215 00:17:54,500 --> 00:18:01,840 This park is perfectly designed by the great architect of the universe and is kept by him. 216 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:10,800 James Montgomery said, if God hath made this world so fair where sin and death abound, 217 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:16,480 how beautiful beyond compare will paradise be found. 218 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:24,800 If God can make the Garden of Eden as it was in all of its beauty, do you think he's able 219 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:29,440 to make heaven even more beautiful? 220 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,640 Paul was forbidden to speak about what he saw, what he heard. 221 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,880 Don't you wish he had been able to tell us more? 222 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:43,200 And yet as I said before, if Paul told us what he saw there, we might be discontent 223 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:48,120 in this world and desire to get there as soon as possible. 224 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:54,120 I remember, and we need to be content to finish out this pilgrimage within the will of God. 225 00:18:54,120 --> 00:19:03,520 I remember a young lady with Campus Crusade for Christ who was drowned three times in 226 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:09,000 Colorado in that terrible flood that took place several years ago now. 227 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:15,640 She went down, she remembers three times, and thought she was dead. 228 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:21,240 And though she did not express what happened during those times when she was out of it 229 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:30,040 and unconscious, she did experience when she was revived what she called culture shock 230 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:36,960 to come back into this world. 231 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:44,920 Heaven is a beautiful place filled with glory and grace. 232 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:45,920 Who is in heaven? 233 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,800 Well, that's part of why heaven is so special. 234 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,920 I'm going to see my Savior's face. 235 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,020 Heaven is a beautiful place. 236 00:19:56,020 --> 00:20:01,200 The first one we think of in heaven, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. 237 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:08,040 He ascended up, it says in Acts chapter 1, and was taken out of the sight of the apostles. 238 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,480 How do we know he made it all the way back to heaven? 239 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:19,240 Well, we know because in Acts chapter 7, Stephen, just prior to his being martyred, looked up 240 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,360 and heaven was opened for him. 241 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:29,760 And he saw Jesus there standing at the right hand of God. 242 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:31,760 And so we know that he got back to heaven. 243 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,800 That's where he is today. 244 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:34,800 Who else is in heaven? 245 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:44,800 Well, of course, God, the Trinity, is there along with the innumerable angels, the myriad 246 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:45,800 of angels. 247 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:53,760 In fact, let's go back to Hebrews chapter 12, where we sort of have a list of the ones 248 00:20:53,760 --> 00:21:00,360 who inhabit heaven. 249 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:06,640 He says, you've come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. 250 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:11,720 And then he says, to myriads of angels. 251 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:22,280 And so heaven is populated by these angelic beings who serve the Lord however he desires. 252 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,240 The myriads, the innumerable angels. 253 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:35,000 Furthermore, to the general assembly and church of the first born who are enrolled in heaven. 254 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:36,240 Who is that? 255 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:42,920 Well, those are believers who have died already in this age. 256 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,440 They are there. 257 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:51,240 Now the general assembly is not completed yet because some of us are still here. 258 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,080 The family is split between heaven and earth. 259 00:21:55,080 --> 00:22:01,480 But many of our brothers, many of those who are part of the general assembly and church 260 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,720 of the first born are already there. 261 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:04,720 Who else? 262 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,880 God, the judge of all. 263 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:12,200 So as I said before, God is omnipresent, he's everywhere, and yet there's a special sense 264 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,600 in which he is in heaven. 265 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:19,360 And then it says, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. 266 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,080 What does that refer to? 267 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:28,400 Seems to me the best understanding of it is that it's the Old Testament saints. 268 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:36,840 Those who believed before the Lord Jesus Christ came, who are a part of the Old Covenant. 269 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:45,080 Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, all of those Old Testament saints. 270 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,400 The spirits of righteous men made perfect. 271 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:53,600 And then he says, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood 272 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,640 which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 273 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:02,000 And so those are the ones who dwell in heaven. 274 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:11,520 Very often people ask about babies and children who have not reached the age of accountability. 275 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,160 Do they go to heaven? 276 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:20,640 What about those who are mentally incapable of comprehending, who are retarded as we 277 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:21,720 say? 278 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,440 What about those people? 279 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:32,960 My conviction is, I should say, my opinion is, a conviction is something you die for. 280 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,200 You don't die for opinions. 281 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,240 So this is my opinion. 282 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:44,360 My opinion is that those who have died and cannot be held accountable because of age 283 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:51,040 or mental incapacity, those people are in heaven. 284 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,840 You say, where's a verse for that? 285 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,480 Well, there isn't a verse that clearly says that. 286 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:04,960 It is suggested in what David remarks in 2 Samuel 12, 23, when he speaks about the baby 287 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:10,320 that had been born to him in Bathsheba and who died in infancy. 288 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:17,480 And he says regarding the baby, he shall not return to me, but I shall go to him. 289 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:24,760 Now that can be taken to mean that he inevitably will die, as did the baby. 290 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:30,040 But I think that there is at least the suggestion there that something more is involved, that 291 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,160 he was anticipating seeing that child again. 292 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:40,040 David grieved over that sick baby, prayed that God would spare the child, and yet God 293 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,640 did not do so. 294 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,560 He anticipated seeing his son again. 295 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,400 I think also that there is the implication that there is an age of accountability in 296 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,160 what happened in ancient Israel. 297 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:59,660 For you remember when the people came out of Egypt and went to Kadesh Barnea. 298 00:24:59,660 --> 00:25:07,240 They refused to enter into the land of Canaan, which God had promised to them. 299 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,920 And when the nation as a whole refused, God judged them and told them they were going 300 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,200 to have to do what in the wilderness? 301 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,840 They were going to have to die. 302 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:22,360 The whole lot of them from 20 years of age and up. 303 00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:27,140 From 20 and below, they were not going to die. 304 00:25:27,140 --> 00:25:35,420 And so God in that case arbitrarily, it would seem, chose that as the line of accountability. 305 00:25:35,420 --> 00:25:39,880 And said those from that age and up are accountable for this act of rebellion against me in the 306 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:41,780 wilderness. 307 00:25:41,780 --> 00:25:45,060 And those from that age and below are not. 308 00:25:45,060 --> 00:25:48,800 So I think there is the implication there at least that there is such a thing as an 309 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,160 age of accountability. 310 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:58,600 I believe that in God's grace, he made provision for these that I've mentioned in the work 311 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:03,160 of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. 312 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:09,080 And then the question is often asked, will we know others in heaven? 313 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,640 But I think the easiest way to answer that is, do you think we're going to be more ignorant 314 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,880 in heaven than we are here? 315 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,720 Of course not. 316 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,240 We will know others in heaven. 317 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:27,920 The disciples who were with Jesus on the mount when he was transfigured recognized Moses and 318 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:31,800 Elijah though they had never seen them. 319 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:37,640 In Matthew 8 it says, and I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west 320 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:43,000 and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 321 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:48,720 In other words, there is the identity of these three patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven. 322 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,120 Why not everyone else as well? 323 00:26:52,120 --> 00:27:01,940 And then the suggestion of 1 Corinthians 13-12 says that we shall then fully know, even as 324 00:27:01,940 --> 00:27:04,560 we shall be fully known. 325 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,840 The idea is we shall understand. 326 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:14,640 Anyway, I believe that the powers of perception which we have at this point, rather than being 327 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:21,240 lessened, will be enhanced and intensified in heaven. 328 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,600 The answer is yes, certainly we will know others in heaven. 329 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,680 And even after we receive our glorified bodies, for you see even though that body will be 330 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,820 different it will be the same in a sense. 331 00:27:33,820 --> 00:27:39,320 There will be identification though they won't be identical, those new bodies. 332 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:43,400 Jesus had a new body and yet the disciples knew exactly who it was when he appeared to 333 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,680 them. 334 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:50,720 You say do we have a body when we die and go to heaven? 335 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:55,080 I think there is at least a suggestion in 2 Corinthians 5 that there is a covering for 336 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,400 the soul. 337 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,960 I don't believe that in heaven there are just disembodied spirits. 338 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:06,120 It would seem that there is some kind of a covering for the soul and an identity. 339 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:12,200 For example, Moses had died, his body hadn't been buried, and yet he appeared in a body 340 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,320 formed there with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. 341 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,120 Yes, we will know others in heaven. 342 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:26,280 And it seems to me that when we enter heaven our minds are going to be enlightened. 343 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:33,320 But so many of the things that are mysteries now will be understood then. 344 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:40,960 I think it was Charles Swindoll who one time on his broadcast said that he believes, it's 345 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:47,680 not a conviction again, but he believes that when one enters into heaven that there is 346 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:55,080 a panorama of time laid out there so that upon entering into that place one is able 347 00:28:55,080 --> 00:29:04,360 to with a glance see the layout of time as God has schemed and planned it so that immediately 348 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:11,640 he has knowledge of all of what God is doing. 349 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,600 Now there are some things that are not in heaven. 350 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:22,320 According to Revelation 21, 22, tears will not be ultimately in heaven. 351 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:28,320 There is the idea, the suggestion that there will be tears at the judgment seat of Christ, 352 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:34,520 but ultimately tears will be removed, death and sorrow, crying, pain, the curse, night 353 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:39,920 will no longer exist, ultimately in heaven. 354 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:49,120 And then of course there will not be a single unforgiven sinner in heaven. 355 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:57,560 Not one who has rejected Jesus Christ in this world, not one who has turned from the light 356 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:03,980 that God has given to him, not one who has done that will be there. 357 00:30:03,980 --> 00:30:12,140 Heaven is a prepared place, it has been said, for a prepared people. 358 00:30:12,140 --> 00:30:18,760 As someone has said, I think it was Bishop Ryle, they that enter shall find that they 359 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:26,680 are neither unknown nor unexpected. 360 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:33,920 Heaven in one sense is to be with Christ, in another sense it is to be like Christ, 361 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,000 and we shall experience both. 362 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:42,320 Dr. A.J. Gordon wrote the words, I shall see the King in his beauty, in the land that is 363 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:49,000 far away, when the shadows at length have lifted and the darkness has turned today, 364 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:57,160 I shall see him, I shall be like him, by one glance of his face transformed, and this body 365 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:04,560 of sin and darkness to the image of Christ conformed. 366 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:06,200 Are you bound for heaven? 367 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,740 Is that your hope, to see Christ, to be like him? 368 00:31:10,740 --> 00:31:14,840 Someone has said to be heaven bound, you have to be heaven born. 369 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,120 Have you been born again? 370 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:22,760 Will you make this journey from earth to heaven one day? 371 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:28,160 Whoever we are here tonight, one of two destinies awaits us. 372 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:36,240 We cannot avoid that fact, deny it though we may, it still is true. 373 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,360 Is your destiny heaven? 374 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:40,400 Will you be with the Lord? 375 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:45,960 Will you dwell in that place that he has prepared for those that love him? 376 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,720 If you are not sure about that, you can be sure. 377 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:55,760 You say, I don't think a person really can know he is going to heaven until he dies. 378 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,440 How mistaken that is, my friend. 379 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:04,760 God intends for us to know right here and now that heaven is our destiny, that we have 380 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,040 eternal life. 381 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:15,560 If you don't have that assurance in your heart, if you don't know that you are saved, 382 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:22,420 that you have been born from above, then you can know tonight by trusting Jesus Christ 383 00:32:22,420 --> 00:32:24,720 as your Savior. 384 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,400 Let's bow together in prayer. 385 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:37,800 Father, as we contemplate heaven and that which you have revealed to us, we confess 386 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:44,800 it tends to leave more questions in our minds than it does give us answers. 387 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:52,360 And yet those things that you have not revealed are not revealed for a purpose. 388 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:58,680 Give us contentment to understand what we can, even that which you have revealed causes 389 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:03,560 our hearts to be filled with wonder and awe. 390 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,020 Thank you. 391 00:33:06,020 --> 00:33:10,880 Thank you for saving us from sin and hell, which we deserve. 392 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,320 Thank you for preparing a place for us in heaven. 393 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:22,640 Father, if there be some friend here tonight who is not sure of heaven, who cannot honestly 394 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:28,080 say within his own heart that he knows his sins are forgiven, that he has cleansed, that 395 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:34,320 his name is written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, I pray that that one, even tonight, 396 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:41,880 before he leaves this place, will receive the Lord Jesus Christ. 397 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:46,880 And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.