A Tour of Heaven

Intro:

Islam: 1.8 billion people believe Heaven or Jannah is a place of 7 levels, REWARDS where Marty's receive 72 virgins, wine that never gets you drunk (so alcoholic) and gardens, each level is overseen by a different prophet, each level is reserved only for those who have committed no sin, stayed good on earth and followed the rules of Allah

Hinduism: 1 billion people believe Heaven is temporary, every moment is filled with pleasure BUT like massage chair, once you use up all of the “good karma” from earth - you must reincarnate as a human to gather up more karma to do it all again.

Mormonism: I get a planet and my wife or wives and become a God

Buddism: Heaven is a again not permanent but it does last a long time, however when your karma runs out you need to reincarnate and get some more, But if your karma is in the negative when you die as a human you go down a level and reincarnate as an animal.

Nominal Christianity: In America 65% of people profess to be christians BUT the common belief about heaven amongst them is that it is rather boring place, where stand around and sing for hours, float on clouds, and play the most boring instrument, the harp

We live In a world where EVERYONE says they are going to heaven - and into that world the Bible speaks

The Bible alone holds authority over the truth of heaven. So tonight we need to open it up and allow it to inform us on the truth of heaven and allow it to change the way we live on Earth.

As the world confuses heaven we need scripture to clarify - because it holds major implications

Need:

Misunderstanding heaven, really is misunderstanding God. When I hear someone raise errant or wacky views about heaven I am immediatley concerned over their faith. If someone said to you yeah I know Jesse, he lives in Kentucky - you’d say “yeah you don’t Jesse… He hates Kentucky” If someone says yeah i know God, I’ll meet Him in heaven, when I have wings, a halo and a harp” you’d think IDK that God

But when you do know the truth about heaven you will live differently.

Phil 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

Christians are citizens of heaven and so in the same way citizens of America have unique qualities and characteristics and even responsibilities (voting, taxes, jury duty, obeying US law) . Citizens of Heaven have unique and distinct, qualities, characteristics and responsibilities.

Understanding life in Heaven is vital to your life on Earth - so tonight I’d like to take you on a brief tour through heaven. I’m the guide, Dean is the driver, buckle up. As we go through - I hope to answer 3 questions; (ASL) Where is Heaven? What’s it look like? Who’s there?

1. Where is Heaven?

is a pretty valid question to ask if we plan on going there right? If I say meet me at my favorite spot, you’d say well where is that?

Heaven isn’t in our mind, it’s not in a dream, it’s an actual place - in the same way the Murrieta is a place, Heaven is a place.

It is a place where we can walk and talk and sing. It is a real place where we are functioning. Not ethereal but actual.

So if its a REAL PLACE that WHERE IS IT? The Bible gives us a simple direction… UP

Luke 24:51 “While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”

Eph 4 talks about the fact that Jesus went UP to heaven an when he returns He will COME DOWN to Earth

1 Thess 4:17 RAPTURE “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

So Heaven is an actual place and it is Up there… So maybe like me you’re wondering, can we fly there? Like we’ve goe to the moon, we have a rover on mars and soon enough people, the way technology is headed maybe we could get off our figurative bus and get on a literal rocket and do a little fly over.

Well if you look into it, the distance between us and the furthest point in the universe is 93 billion light years, in a space shuttle going 5 miles a second, it would take 32,700 years to travel ONE LIGHT YEAR and we need to go 93 billion light years and EVEN when we get there were most likely going to find that, there is even MORE universe.

So yeah… no we can’t just get in a ship and go and we never will be able to even if Elon, Bill Gates and resurrected Einstein worked together.

But listen to this, 1 Cor 15:52 “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

Scripture says that we will actually travel 93 billion light years OR MORE, in the twinkling of an eye (time it takes for light to bounce of your pupil)

2 Cor 12:2-4 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”

Paul explains his transportation to heaven and pretty much says “IDK what was going on, couldn’t tell if I was in my body or out of it or what, BUT I WAS THERE!”

Luke 23:43 “And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.””

93 billion light years, Jesus says today and I mean were past noon at this point and he says today, we will be there

Heaven is impossible to reach morally or physically without Jesus Christ BUT with Him it is no issue - it’s instant access

Heaven is SO FAR yet SO NEAR

You couldn’t get there if you spent your entire life trying but you get there instantaneously through dying in Christ

So Heaven is a real place that is up there somewhere, so obviously we can’t hop in a bus and take a real tour BUT we can continue to study the Words of men who really have been there, who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

2. What’s it look like?

Rev 21:1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”

It looks NEW: New is not referring to time but quality. It’s not like a new iphone which is just like the old Iphone but new

But it is completely NEW, its has no sin, no stain of sin, no footprint of satan, Rev 21:4 “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.””

So it’s new and contains NO NEGATIVES but what does it actually look like, IDK… its all new and I have never seen it and even if God told me what it looked like I wouldn’t understand

(IF TIME GO TO EZK 1) Even Ezekile when he was there couldnt make sense of it

But we do get some details on the capital city in heaven “The New Jerusalem”

Rev 21:10 (Oh look theres mountains)

Verse 11 - “having the glory of God”

Thats incredible, this city manifests the Glory of God. The glory that right now if we saw we would drop dead, the glory that broke Isaiah, the glory that when Moses just got a glimpse his face shone, the Glory of God is manifest in this city, look at Rev 21:23 “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

The Glory that would have previoulsy destroyed us, is the glory that we will dwell in forever. This city is our city.

And then John gets into this description of the design of heaven and time fails us to go over all of it but it is so interesting and John is trying his best to describe this HUGE CUBE SHAPED CITY so big the height would be over 600,000 stories. It’s no temecula, or Los Angeles or tokyo. Its practically the size of a planet.

There in that city it’s not crowded or concrete jungle, its not gloomy, its BRIGHT, the stones used to build are transparent so that the GLORY of God can come shining through it. It’s just this beautiful, magnificent, safe, joyful city. That John is on a mountain looking at and you could imagine its like at Epic Rollertainment when the lights turn of and then this disco ball comes down out of the cieling BLASTING light everywhere and lighting up the entire place.

It’s incredible and unfathomable and real. It;s the city described in verse 2 as bride adroned for her husband. I think John uses this purposefully to speak of the beauty and the glory BUT also of the people in it....

3. Who is there?

Well we have already hinted at this, but i think if we were wrapping up our tour and looking out the window we would see 3 different people:

God himself: Psalm 33:13-14 “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,”

God lives there. We know that God is omnipresent, He is everywhere BUT in a special sense He is in heaven.

This is what we long for, what we need, living in the same place as God is literally was were made to do. Adam and Eve lived in a garden and DWELT with God! In a real since, they went on strolls with God.

How bad do you want to be with God? That really is the ultimate reason to long for Heaven. It’s not to see relatives, it’s not because it’s better than Hell, its not for the perfect body, the perfect relationhsips, the awesome views. Christians want to go to heaven to see God. It’s to see our heavenly father, it’s to see the Lamb of God who took away our sin.

O to see Him and know Him FULLY! Why repent from your sin? Why follow God? Not so you can have a good life, not to be respected, not to avoid Hell, not to please parents, not to be free from guilt BUT to KNOW GOD

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”

But if you do not already know Him now, than seeing Him face to face isn’t a hopeful thing but a scary one

Heb 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

When you dies, you will see God - those who have believed in Jesus Christ will rejoice and those who haven’t will weep.

Angels: There are angels in heaven. Perfect, sinless angels. we see them actually around the throne of God in Isa 6. They will be doing what they have always been doing -whatever God asks of them. They will be singing his praisesand I plan on talking to them.

Redeemed people: Lastly, heaven is filled with and ONLY with Humans who had a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Not simply those who knew about Jesus, not those who just ‘believed’ in Jesus, not those wholived pretty good lives, not those who have more good than bad, not those with Christian parents, not those who were homeschooled, private schooled, public schooled, not those who were pre-mil, post mil, a-mil, covenental, dispensational, HEAVEN IS FOR THE REDEEMED. The person who repented of their sin and lived by Faith in Christ. The person with a changed heart. The person who was Born twice. The person who picked up their cross, The person who ENTERED the narrow gate, the person who endured until the very end. That is who is in heaven.

Will you be there? Does the direction of your life lead more to heaven or hell? Is there fruit in your life of salvation? Do you love God, His Word, His people, do you hate sin? Do you live aligned with your answers?

If you are headed to heaven, LIVE LIKE IT! Why would you want to do anything on Earth that isn’t going to last for heaven. If you’re a citizen of heaven follow the heavenly laws found in scripture, talk like your in heaven, think like your in heaven, act like your in heaven and you can be sure YOU ARE PREPARED TO DIE.