Heaven-Perfection

My message is entitled "Heaven-Perfection" from Rev. 21:1-6.

Heaven becomes more desirable as we age.

Why do you think that is?

Younger-we get caught up in the “abundant life.”

As we age, many of our loved ones and friends have gone on to be with the Lord and we long for a great reunion.

Who are you longing to have a great reunion with?

I can say today and each day as I grow older and closer to God that Heaven is more desirable in my life than ever before. I long for the perfection, the holiness and righteousness that awaits when we go to heaven to be with the Lord.

Scripture Reading

Revelation 21:1-6

21 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.[1]

· Prayer

· Message

Heaven will be for us utter perfection & utopia in every way.

I know for many of you who live down in this sage field, once upon a time, great quail fields of old. You long to have some of those great quail shoots in heaven. Others, like me, may desire to play Golf with Ben Hogan, Arnie, and Jesus around Amen Corner. I would love to whip Terry Brooks unmercifully in golf right in front of Jesus. Lol.

Mr. Sonny will be back big and strong and airmail us on the drive.

On a serious note, I cannot preach to those issues because I values, our priorities, our love for one another, our love for those that passed before us and especially our longing to love on the Lord will reign supreme in our lives in heaven.

Ill. There was a rich Christian businessperson who had made a special request of God, before going to heaven, to carry one suitcase. **All realize that we cannot take anything with us**. Now realize this is only a story. But reluctantly God allowed for one suitcase. The scene changed to later to the Christian businessperson entering heaven. St. Peter noticed the suitcase he was bringing in. The guy reminded St. Peter that God had allowed for this and given him permission. St. Peter asked him to "open the bag." Inside the bag, the businessperson had Handy Harman and Engelhard gold bullion bars, 1 oz, 10 oz, 100 oz bars of gold bricks. St. Peter asked the businessperson "Why are you bringing more street pavers into heaven?"

Heaven will have a whole new set of interests for every one of us.

1. Heaven will be a perfect place.

· A New Place

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”

Kainos-new not as relates to age. Uncertain affinity, new as relates to freshness. We will never fatigue or become bored in heaven.

Who wants to try to imitate someone being bored?

The freshness, the newness, the height of joy for heaven will never tire.

Isaiah 65:17 “17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

-that kills the golf and the quail hunting.

Can you imagine that nothing that is the height or climax of life will have the remembrance or allure that it has in this life?

-All of your past is never remembered.

But notice something we have all asked. Are all things passed away?

Isaiah 66:22 “22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain.”

Can I have your undivided attention: "Heaven will wow you!” Heaven will have all the newness you desire, and it will be to us as it was to Paul.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.””

2 Peter 3:13 “13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

There is a reason we do not want to fall in too much love with this world.

1 Corinthians 7:31 “31 and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.”

Ill. I get joked on sometimes with Jane about how I will study a menu to choose just the right entree. “We will eat in 6 more hours. You have another opportunity to get it right.”

Dearly beloved, we have eternity in heaven. If you miss a bucket list item here, it will not compare to heaven anyway.

We attempt to new runs on life, do overs, a new lease on life if you will. We attempt to escape our pasts. People move to new areas to avoid financial problems of the past, to avoid broken relationships of the past. People leave areas because of addictions to find new environments to make it easier for them. Usually, those problems find them. Folks, the problems of old will stay the problems of old.

2 Peter 3:10 “10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

Saturday Evenings as a Pastor can be quiet different than laity or anyone else for that matter. The planning and preparation.

Let me ask you a question. What business do you need to take care of?

Your past flaws are remembered anymore.

By the way, when you accept Christ, they are remembered no more with Him. Amen?

You truly start anew. Just like you do when you ask Jesus to come into your life and cleanse you of your sin. He washes it white as snow. And it leaves His memory as far as the east is from the west.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19(NKJV)

· A Prepared Place for you and me.

It is overwhelming to think that God has prepared a special place for you and me. I said "special".

2 "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. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:2-3(NKJV)

I honestly believe that Heaven will have somethings in store for me as well as something unique for you. I do not know what that will be, but I am convinced of that.

22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me," says the LORD, "So shall your descendants and your name remain.

Isaiah 66:22(NKJV)

Isaiah 66:22 tells us that while the earth and heaven will be made new, He will not forget us and our relationships. We will know our family and friends in heaven. Furthermore, we remember the scripture about "being a unique creation of God and being created in the image of Christ". Heaven will have something in store for each one of us.

· A Peaceful Place

There was something very profound in vs. 1 "and there was no more sea."

John was exiled to the isle of Patmos. The sea represented two things:

1. Fear of the unknown-Darkness, turbulence, discourse.

2. The Fear of Separation-He was separated from his family and friends in Ephesus. John was cold and lonely.

For you see we saw Heaven here on earth when God created Eden. There was perfect peace and harmony.

Adam & Eve did not hide from God in heaven.

When sin came, it was destroyed. The pains and sufferings, loneliness, and despair, stress and the aging and ailments that sin brings will be no more.

· A place of Joy & Righteousness

Folks, when you take sin out of the equation. You take guilt out of the equation. You take out everything that would ensnare you and me. It will be a joyous time. We have felt times of closeness to God when we were made right in Jesus, real revival, real renewal and repentance and coming clean before a holy and righteous God.

Don Graham-We recently experienced a revival that was targeted at the church, i.e. Not evangelical, but to bring restoration to the church. It was the most convicting services I had ever experienced. It was all because of the snapshots we took all week of the sin we carried. We begin to get right with God and each other. It made for a mountaintop of joyousness by weeks end because of the transparency and cleansing that was experienced by weeks end. Satan will be no more. We will truly have clean hearts. We will truly find joy and worship in the Lord.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.

Isaiah 61:10(NKJV)

2. We will become perfect people.

54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 the sting of death issin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:53-57(NKJV)

· No mars and scars of the Past

There will be no weeping in heaven. When Satan is defeated and we come into that almighty presence and home with God, the past will remain the past.

· No Pain & Suffering

We will have new bodies. The scripture says that "all things are new.” Sin is what shortened the lives of the Old Testament characters of the Bible and sin is what shortens our lives. When the element of sin is removed, we will have new bodies. No ADD, no acid reflux, no celebrex, no arthritis, no fibromyalgia, etc.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1 Cor 15:51-52(NKJV)

· No more Sin & Death

· We will be joint heirs with Christ.

WE WILL BECOME LIKE JESUS

17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Romans 8:17 (NKJV)

18 We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Cor 3:18 (HCSB)

How wonderful it will be to live stress free and a guilt free life. No past to deal with, no unconfessed or uncleansed sin. Amen.

Kenny Chesney sings a song that was at the top of the country music charts “I’d do a lot of things different".

The song states that He would have spent more time with his dad and that he would have hugged his brother and told him that he loved him before he went off to war. He would have shown his wife more affection and bought her the dress she wanted. Etc. We all have those things we would like to go back and redo or undo. That will all be corrected in heaven.

Eric Clapton wrote a song about his son Conner. Conner jumped out of a 49th floor apartment in New York City to his death. Eric Clapton writes "Will I know your name, if I saw you in heaven? Will it be the same if I saw you in heaven?"

Our relationships will be even deeper and more genuine in heaven because we are perfected in Christ.

3. We will enter the perfect presence of God.

We will be able to see God face to face.

We know that in Genesis, God was with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Sin came on the scene.

Moses stood behind the cleft of the rock and only saw God's backside when He passed. God was the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night for the Israelites. God was represented in the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies during Israel's time until the destroying of Solomon's temple.

Jesus came to this earth fully man and fully God. He walked the earth 33 years to come and sacrifice His life such that we can live.

The Holy Spirit is interceding for us.

I have had and I know you have had some great mountaintop experiences in your walk with God and felt God's presence, but we will have a one-on-one relationship with God with no compromises.

In our past, we have had carnal, selfish, backsliding periods. We were in the process of sanctification.

A Place of Holiness

Paul stated at the end of his journey that "He was still pressing toward the mark" of sanctification. Folks, at this time we will have arrived it will be Glorification. We will see the Glory of God. It will be worshipping all the time.

I have had the pleasure of singing back up in Choir for Larnell Harris. I have been carried to the throne room of Grace many times, but this will be a worship experience like none we have encountered.

Isaiah 61:10 “10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Hebrews 11:10 “10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Isaiah 52:1 “1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you.”

A Place of Honey Moon

“prepared as a bride for her husband.”

Isaiah 54:5 “5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.”

2 Corinthians 11:2 “2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

A Place that’s Home

“Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.”

Ezekiel 37:27 “27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Revelation 7:15 “15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.”

A Place of Happiness

Revelation 21:4 “4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.””

Isaiah 25:8 “8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.”

Revelation 7:17 “17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.””

Heaven is a Place of Wholeness

Revelation 21:5-6 “5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”

1. Invitation

Revelation 22:17 “17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

It is a perfect time to answer God’s call to salvation.

Vs. 6 closes with an invitation. "It is done, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, and I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of water of life freely." When I think of the subject of heaven, I cannot help but think of the acrostic FAITH.

F-Forgiveness

A-Available

I-Impossible

T-Turn

H-Heaven

"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised Him form the dead, you will be saved."

"Would you like to know this heaven I speak of today and know Christ as your Lord and Savior?"

Sinner's Prayer

[1] The New King James Version(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Re 21:1–6.