SPEAKER_00: We're continuing our series talking about heaven and hell and eternity and uh kind of answering some questions.
SPEAKER_00: I will start uh by saying that we have a special day planned today.
SPEAKER_00: There will be a lot of things happening later on.
SPEAKER_00: We have baby dedications and and then our uh children's service for our back to school service and then activities for them, and uh so this will be the quietest part of the morning.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm happy to uh talk about this these particular topics.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's not something we take a lot of uh focus time on necessarily, at least normally, and so we wanted to do that.
SPEAKER_00: And I also want to remind you that maybe some of you were here and maybe some of you missed it, but we did pass out some sort of uh handouts for you to write your questions about heaven or hell, and and uh so we're uh the focus of these lessons, especially these two, as well as the first one, is really um answering some of those questions for you.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna start off by just um going uh through and talking about some of the principles, some of the ideas of heaven itself, and then and then we'll go back and and go through questions.
SPEAKER_00: So you will see if you have the handout in your hand that uh I'm gonna speak to you here on the front side, and then the back side is really just answering the questions that you submitted.
SPEAKER_00: And we try to consolidate some of them so if they were duplicates or very similar, put those together.
SPEAKER_00: And so I hope we can we can do that today and answer some questions for you.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to just begin today by by mentioning to you that like like when the scriptures use the word hell, that that's the word translated.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is the same way in that there's multiple meanings of what that word means that was translated.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't always mean the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's important for us to us to understand that and us to grasp uh what it's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: So we say heaven, we are often referring to heaven, New Jerusalem, but sometimes when we say heaven, we're talking about heaven, the atmosphere, the same way the scripture is.
SPEAKER_00: So um so it's important for us to keep that in mind as we look at these topics.
SPEAKER_00: So uh the Bible does use the term heaven in speaking of the atmosphere in Genesis 1 and 1.
SPEAKER_00: It says, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
SPEAKER_00: And you can see that it's talking about atmosphere there in particular, or at least uh outside the earth, because it says heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: And then uh in Revelation 21 and 20, the scripture says, And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
SPEAKER_00: So in that case, it's clearly not talking about heavens in the sense of atmosphere, it's talking about what's commonly called the New Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes when we use the term heaven, we are speaking of that.
SPEAKER_00: And then uh thirdly, there is uh heaven that is sort of eternal dwelling place in a more general sense.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not as specific to the New Jerusalem, uh, but it is uh referring to heaven in that sense.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 7, verse 55 and 56.
SPEAKER_00: This is uh when Stephen was being stoned in Acts chapter 7, it says, But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_00: So it also uses that term in a more generalized sense.
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about heaven for a few minutes.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna try to uh kind of stay in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: If that's okay with you, we're gonna kind of stay in the scriptures because you know there's a lot of different uh there's a lot of different ideas.
SPEAKER_00: I lost my little clip that holds my wire in place.
SPEAKER_00: So uh there's a lot of ideas about heaven.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's kind of the same.
SPEAKER_00: People start talking about angels, they get all kinds of ideas about angels, you know, and uh they're not all scriptural.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the same with heaven or hell, either one.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same when we uh sort of uh uh take a few words and extrapolate it through our own sort of experience, understanding, or sometimes just what we'd like for it to be, and uh and kind of make it up.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna try to stay in the scriptures here a little bit, so we're not gonna get in in deep detail.
SPEAKER_00: But heaven is a real place.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is a real place.
SPEAKER_00: John 14, verse 1 through 3 says, Let not your heart be troubled, Jesus speaking.
SPEAKER_00: You believe in God, believe also in me.
SPEAKER_00: In my father's house are many mansions.
SPEAKER_00: If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.
SPEAKER_00: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you into, uh excuse me, receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus makes it clear that heaven is a real place.
SPEAKER_00: It's a real place.
SPEAKER_00: It's not it's not symbolic or imagery, it's a real place that He is preparing, that He is making.
SPEAKER_00: And again, that's important for us to know because especially people that I guess don't believe in the Bible or don't believe the Bible in a literal sense, often use heaven as just a good feeling, a good sense, or a good, you know, a good place.
SPEAKER_00: And we use that term that way sometimes, even in our own lives.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So we're not referring to heaven in that sense, just referring to the good things that heaven has in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's important to know.
SPEAKER_00: It's also important to know that heaven is God's restoration of what he intended for us.
SPEAKER_00: God making it possible for what he intends for us.
SPEAKER_00: So it's a restoration of that promise, it's a restoration of creation.
SPEAKER_00: It's not uh it's not floating on clouds.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to read in Revelation chapter 21.
SPEAKER_00: I am gonna read some scriptures, as I mentioned.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation chapter 21.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read verse 1 through 7, and a number of these verses we will reference again later.
SPEAKER_00: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
SPEAKER_00: The first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
SPEAKER_00: So when John says, I saw a new heaven and new earth, he's not yet talking about the new Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about a new heaven and new earth, that earth we live on and the heaven we're used to, that God will transform that.
SPEAKER_00: And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
SPEAKER_00: And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
SPEAKER_00: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
SPEAKER_00: And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
SPEAKER_00: And he said unto me, Write these words, write, for these words are true and faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And he said unto me, It is done.
SPEAKER_00: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and I will give unto him that athirst the fountain of the waters of life freely, and he that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
SPEAKER_00: So I read that to you today so you can kind of get a glimpse of what John was seeing when he saw a new heaven and earth in the sense of what we're used to, earth, heaven, and the new Jerusalem coming down out of the sky, the heaven in some way.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know exactly how all that works.
SPEAKER_00: So it's easy to ask a question we can't answer.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of our questions can't be answered scripturally because the Bible doesn't give us a lot of input about it.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't give us the details and how all of that works, but we can clearly see that there's a new heaven, new earth, and there's a new Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah, I wanted to read in the Old Testament just to get a glimpse in the prophetic book of Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: For behold, I create a new heaven and new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 65, verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: But you, but be ye glad, excuse me, and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
SPEAKER_00: And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
SPEAKER_00: There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
SPEAKER_00: And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat of the fruit of them.
SPEAKER_00: They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat, for as the days of the trees are the days of my people, and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
SPEAKER_00: They shall not labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them.
SPEAKER_00: And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
SPEAKER_00: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and the dust shall be the serpent's meat, and they shall not hurt nor destroy, and all my holy mountains, saith the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now again, Isaiah in this prophetic imagery is again seeing this new heaven, new earth.
SPEAKER_00: This complete transformation.
SPEAKER_00: And so we can see it in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: It's in a little bit more poetic language and a little bit more imagery description as they would in the Old Testament prophets, but it's the same concept that there is a new heaven and a new earth.
SPEAKER_00: So that is the prophetic word of God, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: That the earth as we know it today will be transformed, that God will sort of restart all of these things, and life will be different.
SPEAKER_00: Life will be different at that point.
SPEAKER_00: It won't be the same as like aging and living and crying and difficult and sorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Again, that's why we're saying to you today that heaven is a restoration of what God wants to give his people, of what God wants to give his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's important to kind of have that in mind.
SPEAKER_00: Now, it references that there's no more pain or death or sorrow, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, this is sort of a complete reversal of what the results at least of the sin in the garden.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think there must be an amber alert of some kind that everyone is getting if you don't have that silenced on your phone.
SPEAKER_00: We may as well acknowledge it.
SPEAKER_00: It's just going off, so it's happening.
SPEAKER_00: So it's what it's what God intended for us.
SPEAKER_00: God wanted us to live without that pain and sorrow that death brought.
SPEAKER_00: And so there'll be a restoration of that, and a restoration of what God wants to do.
SPEAKER_00: And it's sort of reversing that entirely, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: When it says there's no more pain, no more sorrow, no more anguish, those things that we experience because of sin, God's gonna take them away.
SPEAKER_00: God's gonna take them away.
SPEAKER_00: And and no more disease and sickness like we're accustomed to experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: And please understand that while your specific disease could be caused by some of your own behaviors.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to be clear there, it could be caused by some of your own behaviors, even sinful behaviors, but sometimes not sinful behaviors.
SPEAKER_00: We are all, as human beings, going to get sick.
SPEAKER_00: And that's because of sin, but not necessarily your sin.
SPEAKER_00: It's a sin in the big picture.
SPEAKER_00: So it's easy to say scripturally, biblically, that disease, sickness, pain, sorrow, it comes from sin.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't necessarily come from your specific sin, although it could, it just depends on those circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: And so that will all be reversed when God creates or recreates heaven, and heaven in this case is the new heaven, new earth, as well as the new Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Because that seems to be altogether at the very end of uh, and I would say it's not really the end, it's just the end of what the Bible tells us about.
SPEAKER_00: Because it doesn't end there, it keeps on going, but we don't have much information about that scripturally.
SPEAKER_00: So heaven is the is the fulfillment of what God designed, and we've already read some of that to you.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 2 and 9 says, But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
SPEAKER_00: You can't even imagine it.
SPEAKER_00: And then that's uh a reference in Hebrews chapter 11, that these people of faith, they all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them and confess them, that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country, that they're looking for a different place.
SPEAKER_00: And truly, if they had been mindful of the country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to return.
SPEAKER_00: But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
SPEAKER_00: And there's something within them seeking for that.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, the book of Hebrews is comparing that to them literally leaving their native lands and coming to the place of promise that God had promised them and using that as an example that they are not just seeking their own land or the promised land, but they're seeking the holy promised land, the heavenly city that God has prepared.
SPEAKER_00: And for that, we should all have that same longing.
SPEAKER_00: We should all have that same looking forward, looking forward to what He has prepared for us, that heavenly city.
SPEAKER_00: And heaven's not in case everything goes wrong on earth, we'll go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is the goal.
SPEAKER_00: If life's not working too well, then I want to go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: No, heaven is the goal.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is where we're trying to be, it is where we're headed.
SPEAKER_00: Through the grace and mercy of God, we have the opportunity to be prepared for what God wants to do.
SPEAKER_00: We believe in that heavenly city.
SPEAKER_00: It is true, it is real, it is a place that God is making and preparing for each one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Each one of us.
SPEAKER_00: And so that looking forward to that heavenly city didn't end in Hebrews chapter 11.
SPEAKER_00: It's still us in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: There should be something that calls you to that place.
SPEAKER_00: That calls you to that time that you will be with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And because of that, we want to live in a way that reflects that.
SPEAKER_00: We want to live in a way that reflects our desire for what God has for us.
SPEAKER_00: In Colossians 3, verse 1 through 4, it says, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_00: Set your affection on the things above and not on the things of earth.
SPEAKER_00: For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ and God.
SPEAKER_00: When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then you shall appear with him in glory.
SPEAKER_00: So we set our affection, we set our sights, we set our desires on the things which are above.
SPEAKER_00: And you know that really means uh that really means that that's what we're looking for, and that's the primary force of our lives to prepare us for.
SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't matter what your sort of earthly secular circumstances are.
SPEAKER_00: I think I think it's kind of interesting, you know, when you go back and you look at old songs, especially back a ways, there's a lot of songs about leaving earth and going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: But as we've become a more wealthy culture, those songs are not nearly as prevalent today.
SPEAKER_00: As life has gotten easier, I understand there's a struggle for all of us to get to the place we want to get to.
SPEAKER_00: I hear it all the time.
SPEAKER_00: There's a problem with uh people not being able to afford homes.
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh that's um that's always been a problem.
SPEAKER_00: That's almost always been a problem to get a home.
SPEAKER_00: That's a big purchase.
SPEAKER_00: That's a huge purchase.
SPEAKER_00: I know I wanted a home as soon as my wife and I got married.
SPEAKER_00: But it didn't work out that way, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's a lot.
SPEAKER_00: That's a big purchase.
SPEAKER_00: That's a big step forward.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that that's a big step.
SPEAKER_00: And and I'm uh old, but not that old.
SPEAKER_00: And so after, I can't even remember how many years it was at that point, uh, but but after uh about 10 years, no more than that, after about 15 years after getting married, my wife and I were able to get our first home, but we were only able to get it because the guy that built the home, he was an individual that built the home, loaned us the down payment too.
SPEAKER_00: That's the only way we were able to get in the home.
SPEAKER_00: And uh it was the hand of God helping us, and we did not have any clue that this man was going to do this for us, and he said, Here you go, I will loan you the uh down payment, interest-free, you can pay it uh whatever it was, like 10 years, you can pay it off in 10 years.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so he gave us uh, I don't know, a year or two with no payments, and you can pay it off 10 years.
SPEAKER_00: What I knew because I was already in the banking world, and don't think being a banker makes you wealthy, it's terrible.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, if you're a banker great, wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: But my experience in banking is it's terrible pay.
SPEAKER_00: And and and I've I realized because I kind of understood the circumstances, kind of knew where it was.
SPEAKER_00: It was one of those tough economic times.
SPEAKER_00: I realized that he owed the bank so much money that they were going to take off his money from this house, and if he loaned Us this money.
SPEAKER_00: That's the only money he was going to get for building this house.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: But we didn't know any of that.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we didn't like look him up to find that or anything else.
SPEAKER_00: It was just a little house down the street.
SPEAKER_00: And we were able to live there for a little over a year before God moved us.
SPEAKER_00: So we had it for a year.
SPEAKER_00: And then we went for the next several years.
SPEAKER_00: And so by then it was another eight years, seven or eight years later, before we were finally, no, maybe ten years later.
SPEAKER_00: It was a long time later before we were able to finally buy another house.
SPEAKER_00: So it's a huge purchase.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes today we feel so cheated because we can't get it like we want it.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, I want the house that's better than my parents live in.
SPEAKER_00: So we can't afford to uh you know do something less.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have this culture that's all uh stressed because, well, interest rates are higher, it's difficult to buy a house.
SPEAKER_00: It is, I'm not saying it's not difficult, it is difficult.
SPEAKER_00: It is difficult.
SPEAKER_00: But we live in a culture and a society that is so different because much of the world doesn't even own a house their entire lives, and if they do, it's not a house you want to live in.
SPEAKER_00: And so what I'm saying in all of that is the way we see that, the way we experience setting our affections on things above and not on the earth is different depending on our circumstances on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's a lot easier to set your affections on the things above when this life is going terrible and you don't have anything and you're not sure how you're gonna survive, it's a lot easier to look to heaven and say, God, I just want to get out of here.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes when you have a lot, instead of saying, God, I want to get out of here, we just get mad because we don't have all we want.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm supposed to be teaching about heaven, so I need to get back to that.
SPEAKER_00: But no matter what our circumstances, we're supposed to have our sights set on heaven.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just our future, but it shapes our present.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is prepared and it's promised by God.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven should motivate us to live in holiness and perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven should remind us of what really matters.
SPEAKER_00: It should encourage us to put our sights on heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And it should encourage us when things are bad and difficult, and it should be a comfort to us, as 1 Thessalonians 4 and 18, to comfort us when our lives are ending.
SPEAKER_00: And so when we talk about heaven, there's a lot of wonderful characteristics of heaven, and I'm not going to read them.
SPEAKER_00: You have them on some of them at least on your seed.
SPEAKER_00: It's the home that God designed for us, and it's the destiny to which God has called us.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to the second page.
SPEAKER_00: You might want to come with me.
SPEAKER_00: What will heaven be like?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think we've talked about that.
SPEAKER_00: What will heaven be like?
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about that a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: It's real, it's tangible, it's intentional.
SPEAKER_00: And so I instead of answering that question directly, I'm going to answer it as we go through the others, you'll see, as we talk about the other things.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of some glimpses of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Someone asked, how big is heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 21, 16 gives the measurements of the New Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're talking about the New Jerusalem, it gives the measurements as in the King James 12,000 furlongs.
SPEAKER_00: 12,000 furlongs.
SPEAKER_00: Now you're probably not measuring anything in furlongs.
SPEAKER_00: So you might have no idea what that means.
SPEAKER_00: But it's 12,000 furlongs cubed.
SPEAKER_00: The actual term here is I'm going to say it in the way we would say it, stadia.
SPEAKER_00: The plural of which is stadium.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a term you would be familiar with.
SPEAKER_00: And it refers to an ancient length used in the Greco-Roman world of the day, it's equivalent to approximately 600 Greek feet, or about 185 meters, or in our terminology, a little over 600 feet.
SPEAKER_00: And using that calculation, because that's the only one I can kind of go on to uh uh to justify the calculation, or at least to uh understand the calculation, that would make the New Jerusalem 1,380 miles cubed.
SPEAKER_00: So it would be about 1,380 miles, not length and width, but length, width, and height.
SPEAKER_00: That's big.
SPEAKER_00: So that's the best I can give you on how big heaven is as far as the New Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: It is much larger than you can imagine.
SPEAKER_00: I know uh Elon Musk just said he was gonna build the biggest building.
SPEAKER_00: He's not even gonna get close.
SPEAKER_00: He's not even in the ballpark of what God is building in the New Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So uh I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: One of the mathematicians probably could calculate how many square feet or something that is, so you could compare it to your measly tiny little home you live in versus heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Just to give you a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Are there streets, are the streets really made of gold?
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 21 21 describes the streets of pure gold like transparent glass.
SPEAKER_00: The gold as we know it is not like transparent glass, so I'm not really sure how that's being described.
SPEAKER_00: It's something of great value, but it's polished so much that it's of transparent glass.
SPEAKER_00: It's earthly language to describe what he's seeing in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: So when we talk about streets of gold, you can't really scripturally support that it's gold like you have on your gold ring or your gold bars, because I'm sure some of you have lots of gold bars.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's something that that is described as gold or golden and it's clear as transparent glass.
SPEAKER_00: So that would indicate that it's some sort of crystallized thing, but it's earthly language to describe what John was seeing in a heavenly vision.
SPEAKER_00: And you know that's difficult.
SPEAKER_00: It's difficult for me to describe something to you, and we both supposedly speak the same language, and so he's describing what he's seeing.
SPEAKER_00: So you're fine to say there's streets of gold, because that's how it's described in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what that gold is and what it looks like, we don't exactly know, but clearly the Bible is using these um stones and metals that are held in high value to people.
SPEAKER_00: And so you see that used throughout.
SPEAKER_00: And so it is indicating to us that it's not only beautiful and not only of highest um quality and worth, but also that it's common for the place that God has created.
SPEAKER_00: So I just want to kind of throw that.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody asked, what are the limits of our mansion?
SPEAKER_00: How big is my mansion?
SPEAKER_00: Well, John 14, 2, Jesus referred to many rooms.
SPEAKER_00: He's not talking about square footage of your mansion.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about the space, the place.
SPEAKER_00: The dwelling, the lodging where you will stay.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you're gonna be worried about how big your place of staying is.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you're gonna spend a lot of time camped out indoors.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's gonna matter that much, but it will matter to people that don't have a home like you have.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: It's like we have homes and our homes seem to be getting bigger and bigger, uh, or sometimes they seem to be getting bigger and bigger if you're in the suburbs at least, and nicer and nicer and more and more expensive.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're thinking in that mindset, Jesus said, I've prepared a place for you, and that's enough.
SPEAKER_00: That's enough.
SPEAKER_00: He's prepared a place for us.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think your house needs to be any kind of size at all.
SPEAKER_00: It just is a place that God is preparing for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus, I think, was referencing that everyone would have a place, not that you would have some extravagant mansion that everyone would pass by on their tour of mansions in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: It won't matter if Jesus is there anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody asked, does heaven advance at the speed of light?
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing in the scripture that defines heaven in these sort of scientific terms.
SPEAKER_00: And uh heaven is God's realm and it's not bound by physics.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I would say that physics are defined by their limitations.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why we have laws of physics is because there's limitations that God put on it, and I don't know what God is going to do in eternity and with his unlimited resources.
SPEAKER_00: So, and we can talk about that more later.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 22 and 3 says his servants will serve him.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 7, 9 through 12 talks about worship, joy, praising God, and our purpose there to give him worship.
SPEAKER_00: What will we be doing in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: We have a small glimpse of what we'll be doing in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't like worship, you're not going to like heaven because there's going to be lots of that.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say it again to you.
SPEAKER_00: I've said it a lot of times over the years, but I'll say it again to you.
SPEAKER_00: You can rule as kings and priests and all that, all you want.
SPEAKER_00: Just let me go to the worship service.
SPEAKER_00: While you rule as kings and priests, I'll just go to the worship service.
SPEAKER_00: You can you can do all of that, whatever God tells us we'll do, but if I have a choice, I'm just going to choose the worship service.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's where that's where I would want to be.
SPEAKER_00: And so all the other things that it refers to, that's great, that's wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: Come back with Jesus, you know, on your stallion, whatever it is, you know, however it's described in scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God, thank God.
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, I'll stay at the worship service if I can.
SPEAKER_00: Will we see God?
SPEAKER_00: Will we see God face to face?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Revelation 22 says, they shall see his face.
SPEAKER_00: Pretty straightforward that we will see his face, we will see God.
SPEAKER_00: Will we recognize each other?
SPEAKER_00: Will we remember our families?
SPEAKER_00: Will our love for others remain?
SPEAKER_00: Um, those are a little bit more difficult to answer directly, but we can see glimpses of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Um Matthew 17, where Moses and Elijah came on the Mount of Transfiguration, and they were recognized as Moses and Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: So there was a recognition.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let's be honest, those people standing there, except Jesus, had never seen Moses and Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: So they didn't know what they looked like.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we want to be theologically honest here and what it means.
SPEAKER_00: But they did recognize and they did, they were distinguishable as different people, and so there was some kind of way of recognizing them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, after he resurrected, was recognized by some and not so much by others.
SPEAKER_00: And people wondered, were they so fixated on seeing him crucified and put in a tomb that they couldn't recognize him now alive, but he looked the same?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: But clearly the disciples on the road to Emmaus didn't recognize him, clearly, Mary didn't initially recognize him, clearly they didn't just automatically recognize him, so there was some difference.
SPEAKER_00: Will you recognize people?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it seems like you will.
SPEAKER_00: You will certainly know more, I guess, than you know now.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you'll know everything.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you will, because you're not God, and I'm not God, but God doesn't owe me an explanation for anything.
SPEAKER_00: So but we do see where we've lost our memories of pain and sorrow and those things, but we don't seem to have lost all of our memories.
SPEAKER_00: So it's a little difficult to tell all of that.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you see grandma and recognize her as grandma, except I'm not sure grandma's gonna look like you think she's gonna look like.
SPEAKER_00: So you may not see her as an 80-year-old grandma.
SPEAKER_00: So, how's all that gonna work?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God, I'm gonna see Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I know.
SPEAKER_00: So I I it seems like in Scripture there'll be some recognition, but I don't know to what extent.
SPEAKER_00: There will be love because God is love.
SPEAKER_00: But it won't be the love like we think of because clearly marriage is not the same.
SPEAKER_00: There's not marriage in heaven like there is here.
SPEAKER_00: So that's not the same clearly by what Jesus said.
SPEAKER_00: What age will we be?
SPEAKER_00: I need to look.
SPEAKER_00: It's 1042.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't hear the music yet, so there it is.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: What age will we be?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible doesn't talk about the age, it says, well, have glorified bodies, Philippians 3.21.
SPEAKER_00: We'll live in perfection, not in age.
SPEAKER_00: Can we see from heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Can people see to earth?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the scripture does give us certain glimpses, but uh not participation.
SPEAKER_00: So there is a few places where it seems like you can see some things, but you can't see it all the time.
SPEAKER_00: You're not engaged with what's going on in other places.
SPEAKER_00: Do we go straight to heaven or wait?
SPEAKER_00: What heaven are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying that with a little bit of a smile on my face because the word heaven doesn't have the same meaning.
SPEAKER_00: Depends on what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Are we with Jesus immediately?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we are.
SPEAKER_00: We are immediately with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Are we in the New Jerusalem?
SPEAKER_00: There's no biblical support for that.
SPEAKER_00: Are we?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, but there's nothing in Scripture that says we are in the New Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: But we are with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Can we go from heaven to heaven?
SPEAKER_00: That's a question because Paul refers to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12, too.
SPEAKER_00: The third heaven, the way I interpret this is the first heaven is the sky, the atmosphere, second heaven is space, and the third heaven is where Jesus lives.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think there's three heavens.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you should interpret that way.
SPEAKER_00: I think you should understand that he's talking about the heaven of heavens, not the sky.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's why he's referring to the third heaven where he's engaging with God.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand?
SPEAKER_00: Save the best one for last.
SPEAKER_00: Will you get bored in eternity?
SPEAKER_00: We will live in fullness of joy and pleasures for everyone at Jesus' feet.
SPEAKER_00: So you are not gonna get bored, and you shouldn't have to worry about that.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you could be bored in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you could be bored.
SPEAKER_00: Bored is a state of mind, not inactivity.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not sure who wrote the question or what it meant, but but I grew up in a house.
SPEAKER_00: If you said you were bored, they gave you work to do.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think you're gonna be bored in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I think you're gonna have plenty to do.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for your word, your power, your strength.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you've prepared a place for us and we rejoice in the place you've prepared.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us to set our affections on the things above.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to set our affections on heaven and what you want to do in our lives and the place that you have for us to restore us to what you have provided.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for every open heart today.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord, for this promise of your word.
SPEAKER_00: Let your hand go with us.
SPEAKER_00: Your grace be upon us in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.