Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Always be.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Christians have wondered what is heaven going to be?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Like?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
What are we going to do in heaven? Our imaginations
run wild with questions about heaven. Now, the Bible does
have much to say about heaven, and though God doesn't
give us all the specifics, he does tell us enough
to get us so excited about this place of wonder,
particularly when we know we are inheriting heaven. And that's
(00:52):
the title of the message today, on from His Heart.
Thank you for joining us today. This lesson is one
of four in Pastor Jeff's series Forever and Ever the
Reality of Eternal Heaven and Eternal Hell. Now this is
the last lesson in this series we'll be hearing today
and the entire series and the format of your choice
is available and you go online to fromishart dot org.
(01:15):
You can click the listen link there to find out more,
But first open your Bible to Revelation chapter twenty one,
as Pastorgiff concludes our study about how we who know
Christ can be assured that we're inheriting heaven.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So what is in store for the child of God?
What is our eternal home going to be like? I
want you to notice with me three characteristics of our
eternal home in heaven with God. Number one, Heaven is
beyond our imagination. It's beyond our imagination. One Corinthians, Chapter two,
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verse nine. What I has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor has even entered into the heart of man, all
that God has prepared for those who love him. Now,
John is going to describe heaven, but he's describing something
that is indescribable. It's very difficult to describe. But here
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is what he tells us. He saw a new heaven
and a new Earth Verse one for the first heaven
and the first Earth passed away, and there's no longer
any sea. So the first thing we learn is it
is brand new. The word for new Heaven and new
Earth kinos. That means new in quality. The Lord says
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in verse five, Behold, I am making all things new,
all things kinos. It's gonna be new in quality. It's
not gonna be like anything that you and I know,
because it's brand new. John says this. He gives us
a kind of an inkling, the fact that it's different
from anything we know, and there's no longer any sea,
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and it is God's greatest man piece. The new Heaven
and the New Earth, and the crown jewel of the
new Heaven and the new Earth is the Holy City
New Jerusalem, verse two. And I saw the Holy City
New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God, made
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ready as a bride adorned for her husband. It is
prepared as a bride adorns herself for her husband. What
does God do? He pulls out all the stops on
the new Heaven and the New Earth, and especially the
crown jewel of Heaven, which is the Holy City New Jerusalem.
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See this New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven is holy, holy, holy.
It's holy because God is there. It's holy because it's
dedicated to God. And it's holy because only the people
who occupy the New Jerusalem are They've been made holy
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by the blood of the Lamb, it says in verse
twenty seven of chapter twenty one. And nothing unclean, and
no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come
into it, but only those whose names are written in
the Lamb's Book of Life. That's what John saw. It
is beyond imagination. Second characteristic, heaven is nothing like now.
(04:29):
It's nothing like now in the physical characteristics of heaven. Yeah,
it's beyond imagination, and we have nothing to compare it to.
But when we think of life on earth now, heaven
is nothing like that. Look what he says in verse four.
And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
And there shall no longer be any death. There shall
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no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The
first things have passed away. You mark it down in heaven.
In the eternal state of heaven, there will never be
one second of sorrow, not one second of sorrow, not
anything that would cause anyone to have tears. And none
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of those things that we have known before death and
mourning and crying and depression and anxiety, and all those
things are gone. There are not any tears in heaven.
There's not any sorrow in heaven, not one second of sorrow.
And secondly, there will always be in heaven complete joy
and satisfaction. We have new bodies that were given in Heaven,
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glorified bodies, bodies like the Lord Jesus for our citizenship,
Paul says, is in heaven from which we eagerly wait
for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform
the body of our humble state into conformity with the
body of his glory, through the exertion of the power
that he has even to subject all things to himself.
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We're going to have a body just like Jesus's body.
Look at verse six of chapter twenty one, and he
said to me it is done. I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Alpha is
the first letter of the Greek. That omega is the last.
I will give to the one who thirsts from the
spring of the water of life without cost. That is
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God's way of saying, you will be satisfied in heaven,
and you will be satisfied beyond anything you've ever experienced
before in your life. And it's not a satisfaction that
weans heaven. It's beyond our imagination. Heaven is nothing like
now and then characteristic number three, Heaven is living with
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God forever. That's really what heaven is. That's what makes
heaven so wonderful. It is You're with God forever. With God.
Musical group that I used to listen to when I
first got saved had a song out and it said,
heaven is being with you. There's nothing I'd rather do.
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There is nothing better knowing you forever. There is nothing better. Jesus,
Heaven is the Lord. That's what makes heaven heaven. And
as that song says, if I got to heaven and
you weren't there, I wouldn't want to be there, because
I want to be where you are. Verse three, John says,
and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold. Now,
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anytime you read behold, that's a word to get your attention.
That's a word to say, hey, listen to this, look up,
let me get your attention. It's a word of surprise.
It's a word of wow. Behold, the tabernacle of God
is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and
they shall be as people, and God himself shall be
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among them. What happens in heaven, we dwell with God.
We dwell with God because God chooses to dwell with us.
And it is going to be so exciting to be
in the presence of God. Now, there has been a
question that theologians kick around. God is spirits, and so
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in heaven do we see God the Father or do
we just see God the Son? See it says in
John one, verse eighteen. No man has seen God at
any time, the only begotten God, who is in the
bosom of the Father. He has explained him, the only
begotten God, or, as some or newer manuscripts say, the
only Begotten Son, who is in the image of the Father,
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in the bosom of the Father, He has explained him.
I think that in heaven we get to see God.
Of course, God the Son dwells with us. But I
think God the Father dwells with us in that state too.
This is what Paul said to Timothy in One Timothy six,
that you keep the commandment without staying or reproach until
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the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will
bring about at the proper time. He who is the
blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord
of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see. To him,
be honor and eternal dominion. Amen, God the Father dwells
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in unapproachable light. But he says in Revelation twenty one,
verse three, I'm gonna dwell among them. Wow, the God
who dwells an unapproachable light, the God whom no man
has seen or can see. In their humanity we're gonna
see him, we're gonna dwell with him. And then it
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says that we serve him. Revelation twenty two, verse three,
there shall no longer be any curse, and the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it,
and his bond servants shall serve him. Say so, we say,
what do we do in heaven? Is it just one
long worship service that lasts forever? Some have accused me,
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you know, you preach it just lasts forever. It's not
gonna be like that. It's gonna be so thrilling and
so exciting. But I don't think it's just gonna be
one worship service that lasts for eternity. Although we worship
for all eternity. But it's not like we just gather
and worship God forever and ever and ever, and that's
all we do. We just sit in seats and we worship.
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Is not like that. I think there will be times
for that, But I think it's gonna be varied. God
is the God who likes new things, and he likes
things that have variety to them, And I think the
Lord is gonna have things for us to do, and
we're gonna serve him in whatever things that he wants
us to do in the Millennial Kingdom, the thousand year
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reign of Christ. Those who are the bride of Christ,
we rule and reign with Christ. That's part of the
rewards that we get at the Bamas seat, at the
judgment seat. You are faithful in a few things, I'm
gonna put you in charge of many things. Enter into
the joy of your Master. We're in charge of some things.
So in Heaven it doesn't really say what we do.
We just know that we're going to serve him, and
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it's going to be so exciting and joyful and pleasurable,
and it's going to be off the chain. And then
it says, we will see his face and his full glory.
Look at Chapter twenty two, verses four and five. And
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they shall see his face, and his name shall be
on their foreheads, and there shall no longer be any knight.
And they shall have not need of the light of
a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the
Lord God shall illumine them, and they shall reign forever
and ever. We see his face. See the apostles saw
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the face of Jesus, and Peter and James and John.
They saw Jesus in all his power when he went
up to the Mount of Transfiguration, and he unzipped in
so to speak, the veil of his flesh and his
clothing became white like lightning, and his face sorted to
shine like the sun. And they didn't know what to say,
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and they fell on their faces, and Peter, not knowing
what to say, said, Lord, it is good that we're here.
That will make three tabernacles, one for you and one
for Moses, and one for Elijah, because Moses and Elijah
appeared with him. And I love that about Peter. He
doesn't know what to say, but he has to say something.
That's Peter. I mean, I don't know what to say.
I'm gonna say something. It's good that we're here, so
we can build three tabernacles. But Jesus gave them a
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glimpse into his power and coming and glory. And so
they saw that in Jesus, but not to the fullness
that we see in heaven when we see the Father's face. Wow,
the God who dwells in unapproachable light, and the throne
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of God and the Lamb are there in the new
Heaven and new Earth. In the New Jerusalem. How exciting
that's going to be. You remember, Moses, he prayed. He said, Lord,
if I have found favor in your sight, I pray,
show me your glory, show me your glory. I want
to see your glory. And God says Moses, I'll show
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you the backside of my glory. I'll show you the
edges of my glory. You can't see my face. No
man can see my face and live. And so God
put Moses in the cleft of the rock. He covered
him there with his hand, and he passed by. And
he said of himself, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding and loving kindness
and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity,
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transgression and sin. Yet he will by no means leave
the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.
And Moses bowed down his face to the ground and worshiped.
He just saw the backside of God's glory in heaven.
We see full on the full glory of God. His
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children shall see his face. And it's not for a
fleeting moment. We dwell with him forever. And you know
what's so cool? You read about the New Jerusalem, this
fifteen hundred mile cube. It's filled with gold and with
precious stones, and it does not have need of the
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light of a lamp or the light of the sun,
because the Lord God lights it up with his glory.
And it's just this brilliant, blazing light that comes out
of the New Jerusalem, the capital city of Heaven. That's
where we're going to live. We get to come to
the earth. I kind of look at it this way.
We live in the New Jerusalem, and the earth is
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kind of like our backyard. You just get to play
in the earth and do stuff in the earth. But
we get to you know, come back. It's time for supper.
You know. You come back up and you're in the
New Jerusalem and you're with God. It is going to
be so uss he says in verse seven, he who
overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be as God,
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and he will be my son. But verse eight, but
for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable, and murderers and
immoral persons, and sorcerers and idolators, and all liars. Their
part will be in the lake that burns with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death. Such a contrast,
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the person who overcomes he inherits these things with God.
You say, I don't feel much like an overcomer. First
John chapter five. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world.
Our faith and who is the one who overcomes the world.
But he who believes that Jesus is the son of God.
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That's an overcomer. Somebody who puts his faith in trust
in Jesus. It's not that you have to be this
big strong girl, this big strong guy that says I
can overcome. No, it's that you put your faith in
trust in Jesus. You realize you can't overcome. So Lord,
I need you, I trust you. He makes you an overcomer,
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and you have a choice. You can come to Christ
put your faith and trust in Jesus. Christ, confess to
God that you're a sinner and you're lost, and you
can't save yourself, and you deserve hell for your sins
and your rebellion against Him. You can come and say
to the Lord Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me,
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cleanse me, save me, change me. I give myself to you.
And the moment that you do that, he saves you.
He does it with anybody whoever will call upon the
name of the Lord will be saved. But if you don't,
if there's too much pride, if there's too much attachment
to this world, attachment to your sin, then verse eight
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is for you. Your part will be in the lake
that burns with fire and brimstone. He says nothing. Verse
twenty seven, nothing unclean. And no one who practices abomination
and line shall ever come into the New Jerusalem, into
the eternal state. But only those whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of life. Is your name written
in the Lamb's Book of Life? Listen, It's so wonderful.
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The last chapter of the Bible, Revelation twenty two, Verse seventeen.
We have an invitation, and the Spirit and the bride say, come,
and let the one who hears come, and let the
one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes
take the water of life without cost. God's favorite word
is come come now, and let us reason together, says
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the Lord. Though your sins be a scarlet. They shall
be white as snow, though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Come now, Jesus said, come
to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Come to me, and I'll
give you salvation. Why wouldn't we come? It doesn't make sense.
Why people wouldn't come. Come now, and let it reason together,
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says the Lord. It's a reasonable thing to come to
the Lord. It makes absolutely no sense to not come
to him. He's offering you forgiveness and salvation and joy
and peace and power and a home forever in heaven
with him. Why would you not come to that? I'll
close with this story. Years ago in the Midwest, there
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was an old German farmer by the name of Klein,
mister Kleine. He was known as old man Kline. He
never went to church. He was a crusty old guy,
lived for sin and self. One day on a Sunday,
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he got up and, as the story goes, he was
walking down the street. He is feeling pretty lonely and
depressed about his life and just there was no future.
There was just nothing. And he passed by a church
and they were singing a hymn, and he overheard the
words of this hymn, and he was shocked by the
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words of this hymn. And this is what it says.
Grace tis a charming sound, harmonious to the ear. Heaven
with the echo shall resound, and all the earth shall
hear saved by grace alone. This is all my plea.
Jesus died for all mankind, and Jesus died for me.
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That's what the song said. What he heard was this, Jesus
died for old man Climb, and Jesus died for me.
And all of a sudden he stopped. They're singing about me.
They said, Jesus died for old man Clin that's me.
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And all of a sudden it hit him. Jesus didn't
just die for the world. He died for me. And
he went into that church and he heard the full
God Gospel, and he trusted Christ as Savior and Lord,
and he was able to give the testimony. Jesus did
die for old man cleind. Jesus died for me. Listen,
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Jesus died for you. If any man's name was not
found written in the Book of Life. He was thrown
into the lake of fire. God has a place in
his book for you, and he says, come the spirit
and the bride, say come, and let the one who
hears say come, and let the one who thirst come,
and let the one who wishes take the water of
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life without cost. He paid it all for you. Would
you just come and give him your heart and give
him your life. You have an opportunity today. You watching online,
you're watching on television, you listening on the radio. You
in here no doubt in any given service. There are
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lots of people that have never put their faith and
trust in Jesus Christ. You have an opportunity today. You
say I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. All
you have is today. Jesus died for you. Jesus died
for all mankind, and he died for old manclind and
he died for you. And if you'll take one step
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toward the savior of my friend, you'll find his arms
open wide.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Are you ready to take that one step? If you do,
the Holy Spirit will do the rest in you, changing
you from the inside to a mind and heart set
on the desires of God. The things that God wants
you to do in service to him. Today you've been
listening from His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreeve, and we
want to invite you to now get online to our
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website at from his Heart dot org and click the
wide Jesus link there. It'll help you to get started
in your Christian journey, help you to know how God
wants to guide you through your journey and that He
loves you so very very much. Again, that's the why
Jesus Link at from his Heart dot org. As you
are aware of your spiritual thirst, you're not alone. There's
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a huge thirst for spiritual nourishment in your hometown and
around the world. That's true, and God has positioned from
His Heart to be a trusted nourishment provider for spiritual
hungry people with a voice of clarity and hope. And
that's why as we come to the end of this year,
it's absolutely vital we ended as strong financially as possible
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for such a time as this, Your special year in
(22:52):
gift is so important. Pastor Jeff wants to thank you
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walk with God throughout every day of the year. It's
a beautiful, high quality daily devotional book called The Heart
is God's Home, and this inspiring keepsake quality book will
help you to draw closer to the Lord's Heart who
(23:12):
lives within you in the Holy Spirit. Each devotion reminds
you that God's presence is as near as your own heartbeat.
Through a powerful scripture, reading, uplifting insights, and a heartfelt
prayer to help you apply what you've read, Just request
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give your best gift before December thirty. First the number
(23:34):
eight six six four zero Bible eight six six four
zero Bible, or go online to From His Heart dot
org and know that your support will help more people
around the world discover real truth, real love and real
hope found only in Jesus. Hey, thank you for joining
us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles inviting
you to be with us next time when we begin
(23:56):
Pastor Jeff's engaging series appropriate for this holiday time. It's
called What a Beautiful Name That starts Thursday, when we'll
open up God's word and share real truth, real love,
and real hope from his Heart. From his Heart is
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the listener supported broadcast ministry of doctor Jeff Shreeve speaking
the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember,
no matter what, God loves you and He has a
wonderful plan for your life. Find out more at From
his Heart dot org.