The Surprises of Heaven, Part Three Revelation 22:1-7

Transcription

1 The Surprises of Heaven, Part Three Revelation 22:1-7 My wife Sharon is a wonderful cook, and I enjoy everything she puts in front of me. I call her Chef Sharon. Many evenings, as suppertime nears, I can smell the enticing aromas of a delicious meal being prepared on the stove. So I stroll into the kitchen. I look at the raw ingredients on the counter, and examine what s on the stove, but many times I cannot figure out what it is she s preparing. I ll say, Something sure smells good in here. What is it? And almost every night, Sharon will say, It s a surprise. No matter how much I may ask, she ll never tell me. If I ask for a hint, she may give me one, but it s never enough for me to come to any conclusion about what we re having for supper. Then, when she calls me to supper, and puts the plate in front of me, it s usually some mouth-watering dish she s labored over. The presentation of the meal on the plate is perfect. The food smells good. It tastes even better. My taste buds seem to jump to life in anticipation of the first delightful fork-full. Many evenings I will look at her when the meal is over and say, That was so good I wish we were just starting. That is a parable, though flawed, of our anticipation of Heaven. We experience so many things here in our lives on earth that we sometimes wonder what s next. What will Heaven be like, Lord? we may ask of God. I can just imagine Him saying, It s a surprise. If we ask Him for a hint, He ll say, I ve given you millions of them already. Just look around. But even when we examine all the wonders He s placed here for us to enjoy, we still cannot completely understand what Heaven will be like. We re going to be surprised! We ve learned over the last few weeks that there are going to be some wonderful surprises for us when we get to heaven. We ve explored seven surprises so far, and I thought it might be helpful to give a quick run-down of those before we move on to others. We ve seen that we will be surprised to discover that many of the things we ve believed about heaven are not true; that it is much more beautiful and glorious than we have ever imagined; and we will be surprised to discover how worthless are the things we loved here on earth. Also, we re going to be surprised to discover how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God; that some of the people we ve looked down on and even despised are actually there, and we're going to be with them for eternity; That our being allowed entrance had absolutely nothing to do with our own goodness, just as the Scriptures have said all along; and that God has indeed removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 1

2 We have a few more we are going to look at today. One thing is for sure: when you and I arrive in heaven, we won t be indifferent to the things we see around us, the things we hear and smell and touch and feel. We will be astounded and astonished, bewildered and incredulous, because heaven will be full of surprises. We will be surprised to learn that God is all He claims to be and more. 1Psalm 106:2 reads, Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise? The understood answer is no one. We never can fully understand everything that God has told us about Himself. As always the Bible agrees with itself: in Job 37:5 we find these words: God s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. Here our understanding is limited, especially when it comes to comprehending things about God. We can only picture how wonderful and great He is, and even then, the sharpest of imaginations could not be enough. Arriving in heaven, though, we are going to just begin to comprehend the greatness and majesty of the Lord God. The Lord God is bigger and more limitless than anything our imaginations could conjure up. We are asked in Job 11:7, Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? and the answer is no, we cannot. When He says, I am the Lord, I change not, (Malachi 3:6); or when His Word states that He knows everything without any limits (1 John 3:20; Psalm 147:5); or that there is nowhere we can go to escape the Spirit of God (Psalm 139:7-12), we ll discover that He really was telling the truth. The truth of Deuteronomy 4:39 which reads, the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other will suddenly become more real to us than it ever has been while we were here on earth. The LORD is enthroned as King forever, we read in Psalm 29:10; He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge in Psalm 144:2. His Word says that He is an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). In heaven we ll be surprised to discover that all those things God has said about Himself are absolutely and wonderfully true! When we open our eyes in heaven, we re going to comprehend finally that God is all He claims to be and even more than that. We will understand that He has been the same from everlasting to everlasting. We can read in Psalm 34:8, Taste and see that the Lord is good, but we won t actually know how good until we wake up in heaven. Then that fact will be so clear and plain to us that it will be as if we were just discovering it for the first time. The Scriptures tell us that the plans of the LORD stand firm forever; that the Lord is our fortress, the rock in whom we can take refuge / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 2

3 (Psalm 94:22); and that His love reaches to the heavens and His faithfulness to the skies (Psalm 36:5). But in heaven, we find out that all that is true in ways we never knew. In heaven, we ll be surprised to learn that when Jesus said that He and the Father are one, He was expressing a truth like none other. We re going to realize that we were chasing after all the wrong things when we were seeking to satisfy our hunger, because Jesus said I am the bread of life (John 6:35). The words of Christ when He said, I am the light of the world, (John 9:5) will make perfect sense to us as we realize that His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to put it out. He is all that He claims to be and more. We will be surprised to discover how true the Bible really is 2We live in an age when the words of God are no longer accepted as truth. More and more the words of Scripture are called into question, especially when what God says conflicts with the lifestyles we want to engage in. The philosophy of the day seems to be If I want to do this, but God s Word says that, then obviously the Bible is wrong or outdated. Even Christians do this more than we might think, because the attitudes and beliefs of the secular world have penetrated into our hearts. The first edition of Newsweek magazine for the year 2015 promoted an 8,500-word article by Kurt Eichenwald, entitled The Bible: So Misunderstood It s A Sin. From the opening paragraph, he demonstrates how little he understands the Bible. The author attacks the Scriptures and Christians with such loathing that it s obvious he has an agenda. He sets up his arguments in his article, but then never offers any rebuttal from any Bible-believing Christian. Newsweek stated that their hope from the beginning was to inspire debate. Of course, the man is entitled to an opinion, but what is puzzling to me, and several others, is why Newsweek would choose someone to write such an article who apparently has no background with the Bible. You see, Kurt Eichenwald is a business and financial reporter for Vanity Fair magazine. He probably knows a lot about those subjects, but his article in Newsweek showed that he doesn t really know much at all about the Bible. That s just one example. We believers certainly take offense at articles such as this one, and we disagree with those who might twist the Bible in their attempts to make it say something it doesn t mean. We say we believe that the Scriptures are the Word of God, and that they are true. So we read from Proverbs 30:5: Every word of God is flawless, and we say Yes, that s true; we believe that. Or John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And we say, Of course, that s true! Here are others: / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 3

4 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Most Christians don t have any problem with that one, right? We believe that one is true. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing (Psalm 23:1) Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). We agree with all of those beautiful passages from God s Word. But we are looking at them as if we have a veil in front of our eyes. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12, Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. We can see these beautiful passages, but we can t really understand their full significance. We attempt to understand them, but we ll find in heaven that we ve only been scratching the surface of the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God. It will be a surprise to us when in heaven the veil is pulled away, and we can finally grasp how very true all these words from God really are. And it will totally surprise us that all the things the Bible has had to say all this time were true. You see, it works like this. If I say that I believe what the Bible says about Heaven, then integrity demands that I also say that I believe everything else the Bible says. I don t get to pick and choose what is true and what isn t. It isn t my right or place to pick out only the things that make me feel good, and discard the parts that make me feel uncomfortable. With the Bible, it s all or nothing, because if I say that a particular passage is not true, then where do I stop? And if I say that passage isn t true, but you say it is, then which one of us is right? In heaven, all of those issues are going to be resolved. The very instant we step through the gates of pearl and onto those streets of gold, we will know that everything God has said in His Word has been true all along. Isaiah 40:8 reads, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. We will be surprised to discover the real truth of Romans 8:28 3You ve heard that verse before; it may even be one of your favorites. But listen to it very carefully: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I ve singled this verse out for this message on heaven because we sometimes go through life thinking that Romans 8:28 is some sort of magic potion we can use to help us explain things that we don t understand. Something bad happens, and some well-meaning person comes to us / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 4

5 and says, God works all things for good. When used like that, quoted only partially, the promise from Scripture is demoted to a worn and stale cliché. When someone quotes only part of that verse, they are demonstrating that they don t really know what it says or what it means. Read it again, slowly: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. We can explore this in more detail another time, but the essence of this verse is that for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose, God orchestrates the various events and circumstances of our lives to bring about His good for our lives. The promise is not for everyone. In heaven, the real truth of this Scripture will shine like the sun. All the things in our lives that have not made sense will suddenly fall into place in perfect agreement. We will learn that not even Satan s attempts to derail our lives were as strong as God s plans. We will discover the depths of the truth that for the child of God, there is no such thing as an accident. We will learn that every trial we ve been through, every challenge, every tear we ve shed in sorrow or from happiness, every burden we ve carried, every joy we ve shared, every heartache, every delay, every opportunity, every advancement, every setback all things were part of God s magnificent, detailed and comprehensive design for our lives. We ll be able to look back and know that even when things appeared to spinning out of control, God was using all those events to bring wonderful good for us in ways we could never have imagined. We will realize that all means exactly that: all, and that God has been orchestrating the various things in our lives, even the ones that seemed unrelated, into a perfect symphony. We will be surprised to discover that God watched over us and protected 4us in ways and times we were unaware. As a child I ran out into the street and right into the path of a car. The brakes screeched and stopped just inches from me. Looking back, I know without question that God was watching over me. More than once, I have been on the Interstate when a car suddenly changed lanes right in front of me, and somehow we avoided a major accident. That s happened to you, as well, I am sure. Then added to those are all the times we ve made bad decisions or did something really dumb, and God somehow brought us through them. Those are examples of the times when God was watching over us and we knew it. But heaven is going to surprise us when we learn of all the times in our lives when God was watching over us, and we didn t know anything about it. When Jacob had his dream of the angels going up and down on a ladder which reached to heaven, God told him, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go (Genesis 28:15), and the promise is extended to all / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 5

6 of us who follow Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. We read in Hebrews 4:13, Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight, and that includes the good as well as the bad. Job asked, Does he not see my ways and count my every step? (Job 31:4). Jeremiah acknowledged the all-seeing eye of God when he said, Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve (32:19). 1 Peter 3:12 reads, For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. This is difficult territory, I admit, because when we say that God is watching over us, many people immediately think that means that we will never have any problems or crises. But we all know that even Christians have difficulties and go through severe trials. We can remember times when we wondered if God was even aware of us or knew where we were. We may have had a loved one who has gone or is going through gut-wrenching adversity. So if it s true that God has protected us, what about all the trouble and pain we experience? What happens is that when bad things happen to us or to someone we love, we are so focused on the bad thing that we forget that God is working all things together for those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose, even the things we wish we didn t have to go through. I can look back and remember times when God did not answer prayers the way I thought He should, and the pain was so deep and sharp that I thought I was going to die, and would have not have cared if I had. But now I know that He was indeed watching over me and ultimately working in my life to bless me. The same is true for us all: the prayers we thought God had not answered were in fact answered in spectacular ways we never even knew about. What about tragedies? What about tornadoes, fires, floods and earthquakes? What about illness? Those are questions mankind has been asking since the time of Job, and probably always will. We cannot adequately answer those questions on this side of eternity. But when we get to heaven, we will be surprised to learn that God was indeed watching over us, and has a purpose and a plan that far surpasses anything we might imagine for ourselves or our loved ones. We will be surprised to learn for the first time what joy really is Here, on earth and in this life, we ve shed tears, sometimes when it seemed as if they wouldn t stop. We know what death is, and we know what it is to lose someone we have loved dearly. We all know what pain is, and some of us are more acquainted with it than others. And there s all kinds of pain, too, not just the physical kind. Some of you here 5today may be perfectly healthy with no physical problems at all, while inside you are / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 6

7 consumed by thoughts and emotions that are eating you alive. But Revelation 21:4 reads, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. No more death! No more grief! No more crying! No more pain! Can you imagine what joy will be like when it is undiluted by those things? Can you imagine what joy will be like when it does not have to pass through the filter of pain and crying and sorrow and death and adversity? Can you imagine? No, you cannot, because it is far beyond anything our human brains can comprehend. We know a little bit of what joy is here on earth. We know that it is not just being happy and free of problems, that joy goes much, much deeper. We know that joy is not always accompanied by bright eyes and beautiful smiles. We know that joy can be present in a person even when his heart is breaking. But the fullness of what joy really is will only become evident to us when we wake up in heaven. Strangely enough, the tragedies and difficulties of this life are the very things that will elevate our joy to a heavenly level. We appreciate cooler weather much more after we ve had several 100-degree days. Food just tastes better when we are hungry. When we ve spent a lifetime of hurt and pain, then go to heaven, we will experience the ecstasies and bliss of being forever free from all of those things. Charles Spurgeon pointed out that A short stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly. Nothing makes rest so enjoyable as work; nothing renders security so pleasant as exposure to danger. Going through pain and grief here will make us even more joyful once we arrive in heaven. How can joy and sorrow exist together in the same heart? I ran across this metaphor by Kay Warren: If you look down train tracks into the brightness of the horizon, the tracks become one. You can t distinguish them as two separate tracks. That s how it will be for us, too. One day, our parallel tracks of joy and sorrow will merge into one. The day we meet Jesus Christ in person and see the brightness of who he is, it will all come together for us. Then it will all make complete sense. One woman had the following words inscribed on her headstone many years ago: Here lies a poor woman, who always was tired; She lived in a house where help was not hired. Her last words on earth were: Dear friends, I am going Where washing ain t done, nor sweeping, nor sewing. But everything there is exact to my wishes; For where they don t eat, there s no washing of dishes. Don t mourn for me now; don t mourn for me never / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 7

8 I m going to do nothing, forever and ever. The Tired Woman s Epitaph, (before 1850) If that exhausted woman went to heaven, I m sure she was surprised to learn that it was much, much more than an extended vacation. We will join her in being surprised at all the wonders and joys and ecstasies we ll find there. Our Heavenly Father will be delighted at our faces as we explore each aspect of the homes He has prepared for us. I can hardly wait! I am bound for the Promised Land! O, who will come and go with me? / 2015 S. M. Henriques Page 8